Who is Dons' newest signing Richard Keogh?

Former Republic of Ireland international Richard Keogh has racked up in excess of 600 games during his 16-year professional career as he arrives at MK Dons, but it is arguably his absence from the game which has made his signing a talking point.

The 33-year-old, who turns 34 next week, has been out of the game for nearly 10 months after being sacked by Derby County in October 2019 for an incident which saw him suffer a knee injury while out drinking with team-mates Mason Bennett and Tom Lawrence. While they were both arrested and later pleased guilty of drink driving and failing to stop at the scene of an accident, centre-back Keogh was a passenger in the car which crashed and caused his injury, and was later sacked for gross misconduct. He is appealing the decision.

Keogh had become a Derby stalwart during his eight year stint at Pride Park. Making more than 350 appearances for the club, Keogh's performances for the Rams also saw him pick up 26 caps for the Republic of Ireland, including appearances as captain.

Beginning his career at Stoke in 2004, Keogh got his first professional appearances in Iceland before leaving the Brittania Stadium for Bristol City. Making a handful of appearances for the club in his first season, Keogh spent time on loan at Wycombe in 2005, where we played, albeit briefly, alongside Russell Martin, before returning to Ashton Gate for the following season. Despite helping the club to promotion from League One, Keogh was loaned back to League One clubs Huddersfield, Carlisle and Cheltenham.

Impressing during his time at Prenton Park earned him a permanent move to Carlisle, where he was a regular for the Cumbrians during his two year spell. Coventry City would come calling in 2010 to give Keogh his first taste of the Championship, and he has not looked back since. Barely missing a league game for the Sky Blues, he played 95 games for the club in two seasons before Derby stumped up around £1million for his services in 2012.

Playing more than 300 games in the Championship, Keogh's career at Pride Park ended last October when he was sacked.