Everton brought the talented Italian striker to Goodison Park in the summer amid much fanfare.
Everton striker Moise Kean put in a great performance for Italy’s Under-21s last night in their 6-0 win over their Armenia counterparts and Azzurri coach Paolo Nicolato had some kind words for the Toffees summer signing amid recent speculation over his Goodison Park future.
Kean recently found himself in the spotlight following a tricky start to life at Goodison Park, which led to speculation of a January departure potentially being on the cards, with AC Milan and Roma believed to be in the hunt for his services.
The Everton forward is yet to get off the mark in 11 games for Marco Silva’s side and missed the 2-1 win away at Southampton altogether after being late for a team meeting – not the first time in his young career that he has been reprimanded for poor timekeeping.
However, Kean very much answered his critics with a superb brace, slotting through the legs of goalkeeper Sevak Aslanyan on 15 minutes and rifling home from close range four minutes before half-time, with Andrea Pinamonti, Niccolo Zanellato, Gianluca Scamacca and Enrico del Prato also netting.
Nicolato had praised the Toffees man prior to the game, telling Football Italia: “At his age it’s not easy with this pressure… He was perfect over the last few days. It is not easy to manage all this interest, this pressure. But within the group he is doing well.”
After the hammering of Armenia, he is quoted by the Liverpool Echo as saying about Kean: “I liked his spirit.
“They always try to express themselves as well as they can and they did well given that it wasn’t easy to play in these conditions. We’ve only been together for a short period of time and will improve, we have weaknesses but also strengths. This evening, we took another step forward.”
The result leaves Italy second in European Under-21 Championship qualification Group One, three points behind Republic of Ireland but with two games in hand, while up next for Everton is Saturday’s Premier League meeting with Norwich at Goodison Park.
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