Carlo Ancelotti must work on offloading Jonjoe Kenny in the summer transfer market amid doubt in the Everton defender sealing a permanent move to Celtic.
What’s the word?
While speaking with Football Insider, former Toffees striker Kevin Campbell has raised doubt in Kenny remaining with the Hoops beyond his loan spell.
The right-back move to Parkhead on a half-season deal on Deadline Day of the winter market, having struggled to establish himself under Ancelotti.
Following a year on loan with Bundesliga outfit FC Schalke 04, Kenny returned to Goodison Park but only played eight times in all competitions before heading north of the border, where he has already featured on nine occasions.
Former Celtic boss Neil Lennon was a key factor behind the Premiership giants pursuit, but Campbell expects that the Northern Irishman resigning could now impact the 24-year-old’s chances of remaining in Glasgow beyond the season.
“It all depends on who comes in,” Campbell said. “I think he’s a decent player. He’s not looked out of place for Celtic. But whoever comes in might have their own players in mind who they want to recruit. Watch this space.
“I thought he had a decent game against Rangers the other week but the one moment he fell asleep, [Alfredo] Morelos gets the goal [to equalise].
“That’s the defender’s lot. You have to be able to defend these things properly because that’s where the danger is and that’s what he’s paid to do. I’m sure he’d be disappointed, but I think he did have a decent game overall.”
Should Everton sell Kenny?
Ancelotti had proven throughout the season that Kenny was far from his first-choice, with Mason Holgate often selected to deputise for Seamus Coleman, and his position is unlikely to change with Everton being linked with moves for the likes of Diogo Dalot, Max Aarons and Tariq Lamptey.
If the Toffees are moving to sign a new right-back to act as Coleman’s long-term successor, Kenny’s time at Goodison Park will be expected to come to an end this summer as the club’s Director of Football Marcel Brands strives to balance the books.
Everton had been open to selling Kenny in January but priced the former England U21 international out of a move to Burnley by demanding £10m, and may struggle to earn that fee at the end of the season.
Kenny had cost Everton £300,000 per Premier League start this term having only started one of his four appearances before joining Celtic, who took on his wages, and he’d played a mere combined 77 minutes while earning £15,000-per-week on a deal that expires next year.
The full-back, who boasts a TransferMarkt valuation of £6.5m, is hardly playing his way into earning new terms at Celtic, making this summer potentially Everton’s last opportunity to secure a fee and avoid losing their academy product for free in 2022.
Kenny inadvertently set up Morelos for Rangers’ equalising goal in the Old Firm Derby earlier this month by playing a lazy back pass which went out of a corner, and ultimately endured a nightmare as he lacked form at both ends of the pitch.
The 24-year-old left a lot to the imagination in defeat to Ross County last month, as well, when Kenny lost possession more times (22) than all but one of his Hoops teammates and failed to find a green-and-white shirt with any of his six attempted crosses, per SofaScore.
His display returned Kenny’s worst SofaScore match rating in the Premiership to date at 6.5 out of 10, but the full-back’s output was on par with average performances after offering just 0.6 accurate crosses a game with a 16% success rate and losing possession 15.9 times.
Ancelotti will undoubtedly be keen to move Kenny on in the off-season, knowing the Liverpool-born defender is not up to the standard he will require.
AND in other news, Everton land a huge boost but face PL competition for a £26m star who’s “grown so much”…