Historically, Italian football has achieved success primarily through its robust defence. Stars like Paolo Maldini, Fabio Cannavaro and Giorgio Chiellini shaped the nation for many years.
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But one man also raised high hopes on the other side of the field in 2016. At the age of 16, Moise Kean made his debut in Serie A for Juventus and just a few days later in the Champions League. On the last matchday of the 2016/17 season, the Italian scored his first professional goal, making him the first professional born in 2000 to score in a top 5 league.
The striker’s career started promisingly. After becoming a regular player on loan at Verona, he grew into a star at Juventus, scoring six goals in six games in March and April 2019.
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Juventus, who urgently needed to generate income, sold the top talent to Everton FC in the summer of 2019 for around 30 million euros. It was the step that was to cause the first break in the career of the highly praised hopeful.
Premier League becomes a career break
Kean was never really happy in the Premier League. In his first year with the Toffees he only started eight times in all competitions.
The next few years of Moise Kean’s career were dominated by loan deals. After the best season of his career so far at Paris Saint-Germain (17 competitive goals in 41 competitive games), the Italian returned to Juventus Turin, where he was supposed to follow in Cristiano Ronaldo’s footsteps. A task that Kean was not up to.
To date, the goalscorer has never had a double-digit number of goals in another season and is even waiting for his first goal contribution this season. Meanwhile, Juventus fans have been waiting for a goal from Kean for over 300 days.
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Moise Kean’s career has stalled – and that’s putting it cautiously. This winter, however, it should pick up speed again with another loan deal. A deal with Atlético Madrid is like that Marca reported that it was canceled at the last minute because the striker did not pass the medical check.
The reason for this is said to be a shin injury that has kept Kean out of action since the end of last year. It is extremely questionable whether he will find another interested party before the deadline.
Between talent and a lack of consistency
Even experts have differing opinions about Moise Kean. Especially since his talent is undisputed. And don’t forget: He’s only 23 years old.
“The opinion about Kean is really very contradictory: on the one hand there is one of the most talented Italian strikers of his generation, on the other hand the numbers speak of a striker who has only scored more than 10 goals once in his career,” said Mirko Di Natale, journalist from ‘TuttoJuve’, the Marca.
“Its greatest limit is discontinuity. If he could solve this aspect, Moise Kean would be a real cracker. Because his behavior, especially when he was very young, limited him a lot,” the expert explained.
“Many people I played with as a child are in prison.”
Instead, Kean has to repeatedly accept comparisons in his home country with the scandal professional and Germany scare Mario Balotelli. Kean also caused a stir several times with unsightly side actions. A violation of the Corona requirements in 2020, arguments due to alleged indiscipline or one of the fastest red cards in Serie A history are on his CV.
The 23-year-old had to cope with difficult living conditions early in his childhood. Kean grew up in modest circumstances and, according to his own statements, moved with his family from one urban institution to the next.
In a report by DAZN Italy Kean confessed: “Many of the people I played with as a child are in prison today. I can count myself lucky. When I made my debut in the Juventus first team at the age of 16, I said to myself: ‘Ok, this is the end of this shit’.”
Will you be promoted again?
The signs that Kean could fulfill his potential this season were actually good. Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri explained last year: “Kean is in a good moment, he has developed technically, physically and mentally.”
The relationship with his current coach seemed better than ever, which is also what Kean said Football Italy quoted: “He made it clear to me when I did something stupid and when I was fine. He was like a sporty father. We still fight sometimes, but at the end of the day we care about each other even if we don’t say it.”
Kean doesn’t lack self-confidence to take the next step, even if it hasn’t happened again this season. “I can still become one of the best strikers in the world, there is still time. “It took a few years for players like Salah and Mané to explode,” he told last year Corriere dello Sport.
Kean also recognizes: “I was lucky enough to play with great champions here in Turin, in Paris, in Liverpool… Cristiano Ronaldo worked to become number one, talent wasn’t enough.”
Kean has a big goal in mind with the 2024 European Championships in Germany, but for this he urgently needs an increase in performance. Then the career of a former ‘child prodigy’ can perhaps still take off.