DESPITE being stuck behind some globally recognised stars, Moise Kean has scored some truly stunning goals that have pushed him firmly into the limelight. He once stole a ball from a priest, is represented by Mino Raiola and is a young black player finding his way in Italian football, meaning racist abuse has frequently been showered down upon him.
Having scored a stunning goal for the Juventus under-17 team back in 2016, he pulled his shirt over his head to reveal the evocative message “why always me?” It was a phrase made popular by Mario Balotelli, and in copying the former Manchester City striker, the Bianconeri starlet gave birth to one of the laziest comparisons in recent memory.
Ignore it, Kean is for real and the similarities between him and “Super Mario” simply do not stand up to any real scrutiny. Where Balotelli burst onto the scene during Inter’s spell as Serie A’s dominant force, secured a big-money move to Manchester City, went to AC Milan and then Liverpool, the younger man has had to earn his way into the Juventus first team the hard way.
Kean’s debut for the Bianconeri came back in November 2016 when, at the age of 16 years and 23 days, he became the club's youngest-ever debutant and the first player born in the 2000s to compete in one of Europe's four major leagues. Three days later he became the first player born in the new millennium to feature in a Champions League match, then in May 2017 a goal against Bologna would make him the first player born in the 2000s to score in one of Europe's five major leagues.
But rather than catapult him to instant stardom, the cautious Old Lady sent him on loan to Hellas Verona where he found out just how difficult life in the top flight can be. Upon his return to Juve last term, Kean found himself in a squad boasting the attacking talents of Cristiano Ronaldo, Mario Mandzukic, Paulo Dybala, Federico Bernardeschi and Douglas Costa. He made just 17 appearances yet scored seven times, the 19-year-old striker managing that tally in only 661 minutes of action.
Minutes played per goal scored for #Juventus in 2018/19 (all competitions)@Cristiano Ronaldo: 130.2@PauDybala_JR: 352.5@MarioMandzukic9: 259.9
Moise Kean: 94.4…— Adam Digby (@Adz77) July 16, 2019
Since the 2019/20 campaign has ended however, his future has been brought into question. With Gonzalo Higuain’s return from Chelsea seemingly complicating matters and Juve being linked with Inter’s Mauro Icardi, there would need to be a number of high profile exits in order for Kean to remain in Turin.
That has inevitably led to speculation that he will be moving on this summer, first linked to Ajax as a potential makeweight in the deal for Matthijs de Ligt. Ajax seemingly preferred to maximise the cash they would receive instead, with Marc Overmars strongly denying that the young Italian was ever a target for them.
“It’s BS, zero truth,” the former Arsenal winger told Dutch newspaper AD Sportwereld earlier this week. “With respect, but there was never any interest and we never considered asking for him in a deal with Juventus for Matthijs de Ligt.”
Quite where that – and the club’s plethora of strikers – leaves Kean’s next move hard to discern. One potential destination is Everton, despite having already seeing their initial bid rejected just last week, La Gazzetta dello Sport’s Nicolò Schira revealing that a €30 million offer was instantly dismissed by the Bianconeri.
A number of reports in Italy and the UK believe the Goodison Park club could well improve those terms, perhaps returning with a new bid of around €40 million over the next few days as they look to strengthen the squad ahead of the new season. They would be wise to do so quickly, taking advantage of the situation Juventus find themselves in as the 2019/20 campaign approaches and the Old Lady still has far too many highly paid stars on the payroll.
He will be fully aware that a move to England would reignite those tenuous comparisons to Balotelli, but Kean has already made his opinion clear. "Apart from the stupid things that he does, I like him a lot as a player," the teenager told La Gazzetta dello Sport almost three years ago, displaying the same level of maturity he showed when Cagliari supporters began directing monkey chants at him back in April.
Kean scored of course, shrugging in front of the same fans who were taunting him and not allowing himself to react to the awful provocation he was being subjected to. Paul Pogba, Raheem Sterling and Stormzy offered their support, but the performance the Juve man delivered that day in the face of such adversity underlined the strength of character he has consistently shown.
Cagliari’s defenders kicked and clawed at him, but Kean repeatedly danced beyond them, his skill and balance simply overwhelming Juve’s mid table opponents. It was a performance that he repeated almost every time he stepped on the field for the Bianconeri last term, a constant goal threat and a viable alternative to the club’s other forwards.
His ability to take on defenders and an excellent awareness of where the weaknesses are in opposition backlines allows Kean to take up dangerous positions, while the timing of his runs off the ball create openings he constantly capitalises upon. In front of goal, he simply does not make mistakes, a talent underlined by the fact that the six Serie A goals he scored in 2018/19 came from just 20 shots.
Comparing him to Mario Balotelli is to misjudge almost everything about him. Juventus should be doing all they can to keep him, and – if they could somehow complete a deal – Everton would be extremely lucky to have landed him, because Moise Kean is for real.
Moise Kean to sign for Everton this summer – 7/2
