Josh Keeley outlines the unforgiving nature of the modern game following Tottenham Hotspur exit
Tottenham Hotspur made a surprise move in the ongoing summer window where Daniel Levy sanctioned a £1m move for 22-year-old goalkeeper Josh Keeley earlier this month. And it ended what was a quiet yet promising time that he had at Hotspur Way.
Keeley moved to Luton Town, and just days after completing his transfer, he was lining up against his old teammates in what was a behind-closed-doors friendly at Kenilworth Road. And he can blaze against Tottenham, given he had a clean sheet with the game ending in a 0-0 draw.
Keeley speaks about the whole transfer from Tottenham to Luton (and then playing Tottenham)
After the full time, the 22-year-old admitted that everything about it felt surreal to him and how good it felt to be seeing his old teammates again at the end. Speaking in an interview with Football.London, he said:
“It doesn’t happen very often! I knew when I joined that we had them a week later, but it was good. It was a good game. I got to see all the boys at the end, which was good.”
Keeley, continued speaking after the 0–0 draw, admitted the whole thing felt surreal.
“It was kind of a quick turnaround for me during the week, so I didn’t get to say goodbye to everyone, but yeah, I got to [after the game], and that was important. I think that is the life of a footballer. It is very unforgiving.
The friendly served more as an unofficial send-off to Keeley, given that the timing of the transfer had denied the 22-year-old of getting a chance to say a proper goodbye to his teammates, but it was a full circle moment after the pre-season friendly when he got that opportunity.
Why did Tottenham let Keeley leave?
To be honest, there was a lot of surprise among the Tottenham supporters for the decision of the Lilywhites to sell Keeley given how impressive of a season he had on loan with Leyton Orient, where he was their Young Player of the Year.
He put in some fantastic performances, dragging them to a playoff final, and there was also news about a possible contract renewal at N17. But then what happened?
While he has been at the club since 2022, Keeley would not be among the ones counted as homegrown in the quota given that he spent his early development years in Ireland with St. Patrick’s Athletic, which would mean that if he had stayed with Tottenham, he would have taken a non-homegrown slot in the roster. And given that Tottenham are already quite stretched about the whole homegrown quota thing, it really doesn’t justify spending one of those spots on a third-choice goalkeeper.
Keeley was also asked about whether that was the reason that blocked his path at Tottenham, and the 22-year-old surely didn’t dodge the question. And to end the interview, he spoke about how he still holds Tottenham near to his heart and how his time with the North Londoners was warm. Before he was asked about if there is a possibility of him returning to Tottenham in the future, he flickered on the maybes.
“Maybe a little bit, I think so, but these are things, obviously a lot of things go against you in football, this is one of them but things happen for a reason at the end of the day. I am very close with a lot of people at the club, so you never know [what the future holds].”
“Luckily, with every loan I have been on, I’ve actually been around London, and obviously, this one is a permanent move. I am still quite close to [Tottenham] and I have made a lot of friends at the club and I am still very close to the boys.”
Watching Tottenham sell a talent like Keeley is something that brought a lot of confusion, but this is where Levy is showing that while he wants to build a side for the future, he is also serious about developing these young players into their talent, be it at Hotspur Way or away.
