Celtic have had their fair share of good loans and bad loans over the years.
But unfortunately for Jonjoe Kenny, his six-month spell falls into the latter category.
In Celtic’s infamous 2020-21 closed-doors season, Neil Lennon brought Kenny to the club to replace Jeremie Frimpong, who had joined Bayer Leverkusen that winter.
Joining on loan from boyhood club Everton, the England youth international played almost every minute for the Hoops, but his performances – particularly against Rangers – left a bit to be desired.
The spell didn’t knock Kenny off his stride, however, and he has gone from strength to strength since.
Jonjoe Kenny on his Celtic spell
Kenny was reintegrated into the Everton squad by Rafa Benitez and Frank Lampard before moving to German giants Hertha Berlin.
He played the best football of his career in the German capital before moving to PAOK in Greece this summer.
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Kenny is one of three ex-Celtic players on the books in Thessaloniki, alongside Greg Taylor and Giorgos Giakoumakis.
Speaking to ex-Celtic man Paul Slane for Open Goal, Kenny was asked about his Celtic spell, and gave his honest reflection – even allowing himself a laugh.
On Taylor, he said: “Yeah, Greg’s my boy. I met him before Celtic…. I was on a lads holiday, and we got chatting and that. He played for Scotland under-21s at the time.
“And obviously, I went to Celtic. The club’s massive, and everyone knows what it means to people.
“I’ve got family members who are big Celtic fans, and I knew what it meant.
“But it’s just wrong place wrong time. The club wasn’t going through a good time; I think Rangers had already won the league at the time, hadn’t they.
“I’ve just gone to get game time and obviously play for a massive club… (laughs) obviously, it’s just went the other way.
“Listen, you’ve got to bounce back. It’s football, do you know what I mean? Everyone’s got their own little story, and that was part of mine.”
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After his loan spell in Glasgow, Diego Laxalt moved to Dynamo Moscow, where he was remarkably converted into a central midfielder. After three years in the Russian capital, he returned to Uruguay last month.
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