Josh Keeley believes the Tottenham players have already shown they want to play for Thomas Frank this season and the goalkeeper has tipped Mason Melia to do "very, very well" when he arrives in January.
Keeley joined Luton Town this month after three years at Spurs having arrived as a youngster from St Patrick's Athletic back in 2022. The move to the Hatters came in a £1million deal with the north London club retaining a sell-on clause because they believe that the 22-year-old could yet reach a Premier League level.
However, the path for him at Tottenham was blocked by the trio of Guglielmo Vicario, Antonin Kinsky and academy product Brandon Austin, all with long-term contracts and Premier League experience. Keeley arrived just too late to become a club-trained homegrown player, which meant it was more difficult for him to be registered in the club's squads, particularly their European one.
So when it came to contract talks to remain at Spurs this year it was always the case that those conversations would reflect his position as fourth choice goalkeeper despite a Republic of Ireland international call-up and the potential shown during his loan at Leyton Orient especially, where he registered 16 clean sheets as the O's reached the League One play-offs and he drew praise from Pep Guardiola for his FA Cup performance against Manchester City.
When a contract could not be agreed, in swooped Luton ahead of a string of clubs and Keeley made the switch to a team that was only in the Premier League two years ago.
And of course who would his first match as a Luton player be against? Fate would bring Tottenham to Kenilworth Road last weekend for a pre-season friendly and Keeley was named man of the match in an otherwise forgettable goalless draw.
"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. 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.," said the goalkeeper.
"I think that is the life of the footballer. It is very unforgiving. At one point you could be at the bottom of the country and then in the next breath you’re in a different country. You just kind of have to accept these things and get yourself around that you could end up anywhere.
"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 still very close to the boys."
It is a strange situation that Keeley has far more match experience than 26-year-old Austin, but such are the quirks of being homegrown the Spurs academy product has been part of the fabric of the club for years, made his Premier League debut finally last season and has a long-term contract. Many believe that had Keeley arrived a year earlier and become homegrown within UEFA rules then he would likely have made his debut for the club rather than never playing a senior game.
So does the Irishman believe not being homegrown affected his Spurs career?
"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," he said. "I am very close with a lot of people at the club, so you never know [what the future holds].
Before his departure, Keeley got to see what life was like in the early weeks of the Frank era and he could see a squad wanting to do well for the Dane.
"I trained with the team for the whole two weeks when I was there and the boys look like they want to play for him," said the stopper. "It looks like a very exciting year and the foreseeable future for Thomas Frank and the rest of the squad. I wish them all the best of luck and I think they’ll do really well."
One thing Keeley will take away from his three years at Tottenham was the senior goalkeepers he worked with and learned from in the shape of Vicario and previously World Cup winner Hugo Lloris, who is now at LAFC in Major League Soccer, as well as former England international Fraser Forster.
"I mean there are little things you take from obviously Vicario, Hugo and Fraser as well, he is a very experienced goalie and Dean [Brill, former Spurs academy coach and now first team assistant goalkeeper coach] has played in the game an awful long time.
"Then there is Fabio [Otte, Spurs new goalkeeper coach] who has just come in, he is a top, top goalie coach and won many trophies at his previous clubs. You always take little bits from people and try to engrain them into myself to take on further in my career."
Despite Keeley's exit, the St Pat's connection to Tottenham will be restored in January when highly-rated young striker Mason Melia officially makes the move across to the north London club after his 18th birthday. Despite still being 17, Melia has played 81 times for the Irish side, scoring 17 times and registering six assists. He notched his first European goal and assist during a Europa League qualifying match at Lithuanian side Hegelmann this month.
Keeley is predicting big things for the teenager once he settles into life at the Premier League club.
"I mean he is a young lad, who has played a lot of senior games at the minute and he is playing constantly for St Pats. I think him coming over, signing for Spurs and getting to know all the boys is only going to help him progress," said the keeper. "He is going to do very, very well."
Keeley is hoping to do very, very well at Luton and it was the club's location and ambition that helped them grab his signature ahead of others this summer despite now being a League One side following their back-to-back relegations.
"I mean I’ve been around London quite a lot on my loan spells [at Barnet and Orient] and because I have got some family in London as well, I think it’s important to stay close and connected," he said. "I spoke with Dean Brill, he played here as well and he sold it to me. He told me it was a great club and the people here are very good people.
"I think the club has very high expectations. Being a Premier League club [before], we have got every aim of getting promoted to the Championship first and then after that we can worry about going up again. This season is important. It starts now, everyone is looking forward to it and hopefully we can push for promotion."
He added about the Hatters' Kenilworth Road home: "I have heard a lot of things over the last couple of years that it is a bit of a mad place to come! My mates always used to say to me, because a few of them support Premier League teams, they have Luton away next week and they’d all say they’re not looking forward to it, so it can definitely be a fortress. It can be a place where people will struggle to come and get points from, so hopefully we can make it that way.”
The prediction is that Keeley will eventually become a Premier League goalkeeper and that is why Spurs were insistent on that sell-on clause, even if there is no buy-back in the deal. For Keeley, the top flight is the aim after getting a taste of what life around it is like but never really taking a proper bite.
"I think being in the club for three years was amazing for me. Obviously I got a taste of being around the first team and what is is like to play in the Premier League," he said. "I used to train with the boys all week, so I know and I have got a gist of what it is like. Hopefully in the foreseeable I get myself back there."