Everton: £80k-a-week star now 'likely to stay' at Goodison Park | OneFootball

Everton centre-back Michael Keane may be staying put at Goodison Park for the time being following the club’s appointment of Sean Dyche, Sky Sports reporter Dharmesh Sheth has suggested to GiveMeSport.

The Toffees defender had been linked with a move away from Merseyside this month.

Everton transfer news – Michael Keane

According to the Daily Mail, West Ham United are “monitoring developments” regarding the situation of Keane’s future at Goodison Park, heading into the final days of the transfer window.

The 30-year-old has found first-team opportunities hard to come by this season, but last week’s sacking of head coach Frank Lampard has led to the club announcing the appointment of Dyche, with whom the centre-back enjoyed great success with during the pair’s time together at Burnley.

The 6 foot 3 star signed at Everton from the Turf Moor outfit for what was then a club-record-equalling fee of £30m in the summer of 2017, but could now be looking for pastures new as he looks to become a regular in the Premier League once again.

TalkSPORT reporter Alex Crook informed GiveMeSport earlier this month that Southampton were considering a potential move for Keane, but Sheth believes that Dyche’s arrival could mean that the centre-back may remain at Goodison Park following the window’s closure.

What has Sheth said about Everton and Keane?

When talking about West Ham’s interest in Keane, Sheth told GiveMeSport: “There was talk about Michael Keane moving to West Ham, but now that Sean Dyche has come in, he’ll want to assess his squad and it is likely that Keane will stay.”

How has Keane performed during his time at Everton?

Keane has made 189 appearances for Everton in his five-and-a-half-year tenure at Goodison Park, hitting the back of the net 11 times whilst providing seven assists.

However, the former 12-cap England international has played in just three fixtures this campaign with only one of these being in the Premier League, suggesting that his days under Lampard seemed to be numbered.

Despite the £80,000-per-week earner’s struggles for game time this season, he still compares favourably to his positional peers in some aspects of his game, ranking in the top 7% of centre-backs across Europe’s big five leagues as well as the Champions League and Europa League for aerial duels won (3.18) and the top 1% for non-penalty goals per 90 minutes (0.16) over the last 365 days, as per FBref.

Therefore, with a reunion with Dyche now confirmed, Keane may feel that he’s now got another chance of success at Goodison Park as the Merseyside outfit desperately attempt to remain in the Premier League.