Moise Kean endured a difficult debut season at Everton and has been linked with a move back to Serie A this summer, despite Carlo Ancelotti publicly keeping faith in the 20-year-old. Mino Raiola may be to blame for the constant rumours, as Calciomercatoweb say the superagent is trying to get Kean out of Everton. But why?
What went wrong for Kean last season?
Poor form, a lack of playing time and disciplinary issues. Kean has made 33 appearances in all competitions since joining us from Juventus for £24.75m in 2019, scoring only two goals and making just two assists. His debut goal didn’t come until January and his last assist was back in February.
Despite the high number of appearances, Kean didn’t spend a lot of time on the pitch. He managed only 834 minutes in the Premier League, 163 in the EFL Cup and 27 in the FA Cup, starting a total of eight games across the board from a possible 43 (18.6%).
And the reason for the lack of opportunities were down to his indiscipline. As per Greg O’Keeffe and Patrick Boyland of The Athletic, Kean has been late to team meetings, warned about his conduct and was eventually dropped to the bench for breaching club rules. He flouted the Government’s lockdown rules in the Covid-19 pandemic too.
Kean was in the matchday squad for 36/38 of our Premier League games last season but only ended up playing 24% of the available minutes. All is not lost, however.
How’s his relationship with Ancelotti?
Pretty good. Ancelotti urged patience in Kean on multiple occasions last season and is adamant that he can reach his potential with us. The fact we’ve released Oumar Niasse and want to sell Cenk Tosun this summer highlights how much faith we’re putting in the Italian international.
Kean seems to like Ancelotti too, saying in July that he wants to repay the trust shown from his manager. So it’s hard to see us cashing in on Kean this summer despite interest back in Italy.
Why is Raiola meddling?
Calciomercatoweb say Raiola is trying to offer Kean to AC Milan and has suggested that Everton could accept a bid of €25m. Agents work in the best interests of their clients, so Raiola perhaps doesn’t feel Kean’s career is going in the right direction after leaving Juventus.
The Old Lady won the Serie A title last season while Everton finished 12th in the Premier League. Milan sealed a Europa League spot and ended the campaign with nine wins and three draws from their last 12, so they could be a force to be reckoned with in 2020/21.
It’s hard to see Kean leaving this summer, however.