Everton brought the Italian to Goodison Park this summer but he is yet to get off the mark for Marco Silva and the Toffees.
Everton cult hero Michael Ball has sought to reassure Moise Kean following his difficult start to life with the Toffees, talking about how some Goodison Park legends have taken a while to get going for the Blues and eventually never looked back (Liverpool Echo).
Ball is confident that the Everton summer signing will be given an opportunity to get minutes on the pitch and believes the Italian’s moment to shine “will be on the horizon”, hoping he can follow in the footsteps of Goodison Park legend Duncan Ferguson in delivering a big-game moment.
Kean joined Everton in early August from Italian giants Juventus, joining Marco Silva’s side for an initial fee of £25.1million that could rise to £27.5million, as reported by BBC Sport, and his arrival was met with much fanfare.
However, the 19-year-old is yet to get off the mark in 11 games for Everton and missed the 2-1 win away at Southampton altogether after being late for a team meeting – not the first time in his career that he has been disciplined for poor timekeeping.
Ferguson, meanwhile, joined Everton as one of two Rangers players on a month’s loan, Mike Walker desperate to bring an alarming run of games without a win, and on his full debut he scored the first goal in the 2-0 home win over Liverpool that kickstarted a three-game winning streak.
Walker’s successor Joe Royle went on to sign Big Dunc permanently and the rest is history – and Ball hoped that, with December bringing games against Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal, not to mention a League Cup quarter-final against Leicester, Kean can go on to make his mark.
“Many strikers we’ve had in the past, even legends, have sometimes taken a long while to get going – and sometimes some players need big game moments to really kick-start their time with us,” Ball wrote in the Liverpool Echo. “We haven’t really played anyone “big” yet, but we’ve got a month of December there in which we’re playing a lot of the best teams in the league.
“There is going to be an opportunity for Kean at some point to get minutes on the pitch. I remember Big Dunc when he was on loan always scoring on the big occasion. He bagged one against Liverpool of course and then Manchester United in his last game on loan with us to set him up for a permanent signing. Kean’s moment to shine will be on the horizon, and hopefully it will come in December.”
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