Juventus' Moise Kean: A Carbon Copy of Everton's Romelu Lukaku
When a young player skips up the age groups in order to play with those several years his senior, it rarely escapes notice. It tends to be a signal that they’re too talented to play with those of the same age, and it paints the picture of a shooting star—a wonderkid—on the cusp of making a seismic breakthrough.
That’s certainly been the case with Juventus’ Moise Kean.
At just 16 years of age, he’s playing consistently for the Old Lady’s Primavera side (under-20 level). He’s also featuring in the UEFA Youth League, helping spearhead Fabio Grosso’s effort to reach the knockout stage.
Kean has represented Italy at multiple levels and currently plays for the under-17s; he has Ivorian heritage but has pledged to play for and “honour the Azzurri shirt,” per FourFourTwo.
Hopes are already sky high for the Vercelli-born youngster; his striking statistics at youth level are phenomenal, and he was included in Juventus’ UEFA Champions League squad for the draw against Lyon at the beginning of November. If he had made it onto the pitch, he would have been the first 21st century-born player to feature in the competition.
This naturally generates hype, but what makes him so special? Why are people this excited about his talents?
Physical presence
The first thing to say about Kean is that physically, he’s monstrous. When you see him, it becomes immediately obvious why the decision was taken to move him up the age groups—he’d learn nothing playing against 16-year-olds, as he’d just bulldoze his way to victory.
That said, he’s still bigger, faster and stronger than almost every other player in the Primavera category. Centre-backs balk at his size and at the idea that they are going to have to handle him for 90 minutes; Kean has struck fear into UEFA Youth League defensive lines housing players three years older than him.
His combination of speed over the top and strength when playing with his back to goal means an easy comparison springs to mind when watching him: Romelu Lukaku. He is the complete physical package; a multi-dimensional attacker capable of punishing you in different ways.
Tendencies
Back to goal, Kean’s like an immovable mound of muscle. If he needs a breather or to take in his surroundings, he backs up against a defender and shields the ball superbly. It’s quite a regular sight, and it’s incredibly rare anyone’s able to poke the ball away from him because he’s so much stronger than everyone else.
One of his best moves is to draw his marker in, to feel him on his back, then spin him and surge in behind. Because of his size, speed and agility, he can breeze past you and into space before you’ve any idea what’s happening.
But to utilise Kean best, you need to make use of his runs. He constantly tries to dart in behind defences and stress the centre-backs’ outside channels, starting centrally and drifting wider to collect possession. He’s a space hunter.
It’s almost impossible to beat him to the ball, and the pass doesn’t have to be particularly accurate, because his acceleration is so impressive he just eats up the ground and then shoulders you away from the ball when he reaches it.
If he can slip in behind and head straight for goal, you’re in trouble. His finishing is superb, and he is dynamite one-on-one. He prefers a powered strike but has all manner of finishes in his locker; his snapshots—where he turns on a sixpence and powers home, or works a tiny angle before pulling the trigger—make him lethal anywhere inside the penalty box.
Areas To Improve
Kean does have some issues when he splits wide running onto balls. Although he always wins the 50-50s to gain possession on the flanks, his crossing is poor and his use of the ball from here isn’t great. At times he slows up and tamely passes the ball backward, killing the momentum in the attack, and at other times he drives infield and loses it.
These drives can be devastating, because he’s so quick and strong over the first few yards that anyone caught flat-footed has no chance of keeping up; but they can also be his Achilles heel, as the Lukaku comparison can also ring true from a technical perspective.
Kean’s feet are not perfect—not by a long stretch. He has long legs which can be difficult to control, and when he dribbles, he occasionally loses track of the ball. Because of the speed at which he does things, when he drives inside and messes it up, it looks bad. There are times when he just falls over and the ball bounces away from him.
This is, perhaps, the only area for him to improve upon: What to do when he receives the ball in these areas. When he can’t be instinctive, he can struggle.
Thankfully, any turnovers conceded are chased down by the man himself—a thoroughly endearing trait for managers and fans. Kean is as fit as they come and has a determined mindset, resulting in long, wild chases back toward his own goal if he loses possession. Sometimes he gets so carried away that he tracks dribblers all the way back and finds himself at centre-back or left-back, dispossessing and passing back to his goalkeeper to restart the attack.
It is, and he is, a phenomenal sight.
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