The Toffees academy graduate has previously been panned by some sections of the Goodison Park fanbase but he’s impressing on loan at Schalke.
Everton academy graduate Jonjoe Kenny has often divided opinion amongst the Toffees fanbase, with some supporters thinking he can go on to be an asset for the club and others thinking he isn’t good enough to carve out a first-team place.
Since making his Everton first-team debut at the end of the 2015-16 season, the 22-year-old right-back has tallied up a relatively low 40 senior appearances in all competitions (Transfermarkt) and with Seamus Coleman ahead of him in the pecking order, he opted to try his luck abroad.
So far so good for Kenny, who has hit the ground running at German outfit Schalke 04, completing 90 minutes in all three Bundesliga games so far and also starting and finishing the one DFB-Pokal fixture played by the Gelsenkirchen club, against lower-league SV Drochtersen (Transfermarkt).
Kenny also grabbed his first senior club goal in the 3-0 win over Hertha Berlin, a pinpoint, first-time shot into the far corner from just inside the box, and afterwards, both teammate Guido Burgstaller and sporting director Jochen Schneider sang his praises (90Min).
The full-back is certainly capable of scoring great goals – such as his effort for England Under-21s against Croatia (Sky Sports Twitter) and his defensive game is also improving – bar the sloppy challenge against Kingsley Coman in the Bayern Munich game, there can be few other complaints about his time at Schalke so far.
Should Kenny carry on in the same manner and continue to prosper on loan at Schalke, he could well come back to Goodison Park a much-improved, more confident player and possibly get a new lease of life in terms of his first-team hopes.
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