New Celtic striker Johnny Kenny has stated that he has an ambition to return to Sligo Rovers one day and win something for the club.
Kenny is a new arrival at Celtic Park after sealing a £125k move from Sligo earlier this month [Scottish Sun]. The 18-year-old had a breakthrough season with his boyhood club as he completed an 11-goal campaign under Liam Buckley [Transfermarkt].
Of course, collectively, Sligo ended the season trophyless. That’s not unusual for them of course, their last competition win came in 2013 when they secured the FAI Cup.
And Kenny wants to be a part of a trophy success for his first-ever club at some stage in the future when he eventually returns to Ireland.
Speaking on the Sligo Way Podcast, the new Hoops signing said: “Yes I would love to play there again. I’ve only played there for 1 year really. So I would love to one day maybe come back and win something with the club, because this year it didn’t go as planned.
“We didn’t get to a cup final and we didn’t win anything so hopefully one day I can get back in front of the fans and play there.”
New Celtic signing Johnny Kenny shows his humble side
It’s interesting to note that Kenny only really had 1 campaign with Sligo. It’s not as if he’s been performing there for 3 years in the first-team and has achieved all he ever dreamed of in his homeland.
Granted, any prospect of a return likely isn’t on the agenda anytime soon. Even if Kenny does head out of the club on loan, it would be more prosperous for him to bag a move to a Scottish Premiership or English lower-league club.
But even so, you can see he still has great love and affection for Sligo. When it comes to new signings, Ange likes his players to be top people as well as top players. Kenny’s humbleness shines through in his interview with the Sligo Way.
If the opportunity does arise for him to go back in the twilight years of his career, that looks like the most ideal scenario for him. But there’s no point pretending a return will happen anytime soon, even if he did only have 1 big breakthrough campaign in Sligo.
In terms of his Celtic progress, we’ve still to really get a look at the club’s plan for the Irishman. Considering he’s out injured and has been in self-isolation recently, he’s been robbed of the chance of getting to grips with the manager’s methods and gaining a better understanding of his new teammates.
Hopefully, his injury woes are close to being over and he can get started on a massively exciting chapter in his career.
In other news, Matt O’Riley brilliantly explains the roles he can play in for Celtic
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