Sligo Rovers assistant coach has explained why his club had to sell Johnny Kenny to Celtic despite him only being involved at first-team level for a year.
Kenny managed an 11-goal season in his debut campaign in the League of Ireland. However, despite signing a new contract with Sligo last year, he would eventually sign for Celtic in a £125k deal [Irish Independent].
Celtic fans have yet to get a look at Kenny with the player having struggled with some early setbacks. He’s not long out of self-isolation whilst he continues to try and recover from an injury picked up before he arrived.
But Rovers coach John Russell believes his former attacking talent is destined for big things regardless as he bigged him up.
As quoted by the Daily Record, Russell said: “The League Of Ireland is getting younger and younger and it’s a good platform for youngsters to get picked up by bigger clubs in Europe. When you have a talent like Johnny, there’s always the risk of him being picked up. I think it was inevitable.
“From a selfish point of view we would have liked to have kept him for another year, but the chance for him to go to Celtic now is great. Johnny’s a big prospect. He came into us during our pre-season last year when he was still at school. He exceeded expectations and netted five or six goals in pre-season.
“He took flight and did really well. To be at Celtic 12 months later is a dream come true for him, his family and the people of Sligo.”
Johnny Kenny will be looking to make a long-term impact at Celtic
Kenny has all the signs of a player for the future. A project buy you could say as he continues to adapt to his move to Parkhead and to Scotland.
It’s a major step for the player to make at just 18 years of age. It shows the kind of progress he’s made even over the last year with Sligo.
There was talk that Celtic could loan the player out before the January transfer window [Irish Independent]. However, the truth is we would be doing the right thing by keeping him at the club and allowing him to get settled in. Similar to Liam Shaw and Osaze Urhoghide before him.
The youngster can’t be expected to his the ground running when he does arrive. All of the signs point to him being sent down to Tommy McIntyre’s B team for the time being. That looks like the best place for his development at the moment.
Especially when you consider the options already available to Ange Postecoglou. Kyogo Furuhashi will hopefully be back from injury soon, whilst Daizen Maeda is close to returning from international duty. Giorgos Giakoumakis has started finding some form, whilst Albian Ajeti remains on the books.
Kenny will have to play the long game before being given his big opportunity. But if there’s one thing Ange has shown he’s willing to do, it’s give youngsters their rewards if they merit them.
In other news, “We call it combat camp”; Bodo/Glimt are having to “train differently” to tackle Celtic
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