Kean was released by Sheffield Wednesday at the end of last season.
Jake Kean has revealed that he trained with various clubs, including Barnsley, after leaving Sheffield Wednesday.
But Kean, who was released by Wednesday in June after two seasons at Hillsborough, signed for Mansfield Town on a six-month contract on Friday.
And speaking to Mansfield’s official website afterwards, the goalkeeper said that his spell away from the game has ‘re-lit his football flame’.
“Without a shadow of a doubt,” said Kean. I don’t think I’d have been driving to Wycombe Wanderers at half-five in the morning to go and train with them or up the M1 to train with Barnsley, if I didn’t want to still do it.”
And Kean blamed the availability of cheaper loan players for his failure to find a new club, adding: “Ultimately, it’s come down to what clubs have been offered for free and I can’t gripe at that, because I’ve been a loan player where clubs have got a good deal (for him) rather than signing someone on a permanent deal.”
Barnsley suffered a shortage of goalkeepers back in November, but solved it with the emergency signing of Jordan Smith from Nottingham Forest.
It took an unfortunate injury to Bobby Olejnik for a chance to open up at Mansfield, where Kean spent the second half of the 2016-17 season on loan from Sheffield Wednesday.
And the 27-year-old admitted he wanted to return the following campaign.
“I really enjoyed my time here,” he said. “I wanted to come back the following season, but it wasn’t a possibility.”
Would the former Sheffield Wednesday man have been a good fit for Barnsley?
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