Juventus’s teenage forward Moise Kean continues to suggest he is less the new Mario Balotelli than a successor to Cristiano Ronaldo and his Juve teammate seems to be an admirer
Talking about the teenager and not about the cretins who racially abused him, nor teammates who should have supported him better. He has scored in five consecutive matches for club and country. He’s averaging one goal for every 47 minutes he has spent on the pitch in Serie A this season.
Kean was at it again last Saturday, stepping off the bench to hit the winner for Juventus at home against Milan. The Bianconeri stand on the brink of an eighth consecutive Scudetto, yet had been underwhelming: short on both energy and invention. Trailing to a Krzysztof Piatek goal at half-time, they required a Paulo Dybala penalty to pull level at the hour.
Despite scoring, the Argentinean had struggled to impose himself in open play. He was replaced by Kean soon after. Pjanic came on in between that, and it was he who set up Juve’s winner, intercepting a Mattia De Sciglio pass and playing the ball quickly across the face of Milan’s defence. Kean took one touch before dispatching it beyond Pepe Reina.
This was the second time he had put the ball in the net. Kean’s previous strike was ruled out after a foul by Leonardo Bonucci. There were other chances besides, the forward blazing over from a corner moments after he entered the game. He had supporters on their feet, too, with a nutmeg on Mateo Musacchio.
It scarcely feels plausible that Kean has started only two league games all season. Before March, it was none. Since then, he has been Serie A’s joint-leading scorer. He has also become the youngest player to score in consecutive games for the Italian national team.
How different the outlook might be if Juventus had allowed Kean to leave on loan in January. Milan were among the clubs who enquired about such a deal. So, too, were Ajax, their Champions League opponents on Wednesday. Juventus never truly countenanced such a deal, though there was some pressure from the player’s agent to do so. Mino Raiola knew his client was too valuable to sit around warming a bench. Kean’s contract expires in 2020, and it feels like the renewal cost must be rising by the week. Juventus do not dare to let such a talent slip through their fingers, after plucking him away from their neighbours Torino before he could sign a multi-year deal there at the age of 14.
At the time, Kean was still perceived as a volatile talent. He had a reputation for making mischief – an image reinforced when he was sent home from an Italy under-19 training camp together with Gianluca Scamacca in 2017 amidst reports of an ill-considered practical joke.
Such stories played into portrayals of Kean as the “next Mario Balotelli”. In reality, despite mutual admiration between the two, they are nothing alike in their playing style or approach. Kean has said before now that Balotelli “gives me plenty of advice, because he does not want me to live through what he has”.
Kean’s reputation now is that of a consummate hard worker. He claims to have been influenced by watching Ronaldo up close in training, saying it would be “impossible” not to learn from such a player. The admiration might just be mutual. Ronaldo was on the bench for Kean’s first start, against Udinese, and was seen delightedly imitating the feint and body swerve with which the teenager deceived opponents on the way to his second goal.
It is too soon to know how special Kean can be, whether he can live up to his stated ambition of being as good as his Ballon d’Or-winning teammate. His goals, though, have certainly helped Juventus to cope without their record signing in recent weeks.
Ever since hobbling out of Portugal’s Euro 2020 qualifier against Serbia at the end of last month, Ronaldo has been adamant that he would be back in time to face Ajax. That timeline looks more likely than ever after he participated in a section of team training on Sunday. But the pressure on Massimiliano Allegri to rush him back now is greatly reduced. Juventus have won three out of three since Ronaldo got hurt – with Kean scoring on every occasion.
Milan were unfortunate on Saturday. They ought to have had a penalty of their own when the scores were 0-0, after Hakan Calhanoglu’s cross struck the arm of Alex Sandro. The defender was trying to draw it back but, under the interpretation of the rules applied in Serie A this season, it appeared a clear-cut decision. The referee Michael Fabbri felt otherwise, even after a VAR review.
