Goals have always come naturally to Will Keane, who was Manchester United’s top scorer at Academy level before showing similar prowess in the Under-21s and Reserves.
The club’s Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year in 2010 helped the Reds to win the FA Youth Cup in 2011, hitting a hat-trick in a memorable 4-0 defeat of Chelsea at Old Trafford in the semi-finals. At the very end of that year, on 31 December 2011, he made his first-team debut as a substitute in the home defeat to Blackburn Rovers.
The Stockport-born centre-forward had his progress cruelly interrupted when he was stretchered off with cruciate knee ligament damage during an Under-19 international for England against Switzerland in May 2012 and he ended up missing the entire 2012/13 season.
The spell on the sidelines was a blow for the youngster, especially after Sir Alex Ferguson had promised him a place in the first-team squad – the manager at least made sure Keane could access the dressing room in May 2013 to help join in with the Barclays Premier League title celebrations.
A long-awaited return to action in September 2013 inevitably yielded a goal – in the Under 21s’ 4-1 win against Bolton Wanderers - and three more strikes in the following two games