Like several of his English compatriots in recent years, Jonjoe Kenny had a choice to make this summer.
Should he stay at Everton, play back-up and understudy to Seamus Coleman, and hope he gets game time in the cup competitions or look for a loan move to a club that could guarantee him game time?
He chose the latter, following in the footsteps of the likes of Jadon Sancho, Reiss Nelson and former Everton teammate Ademola Lookman and heading to the Bundesliga.
Schalke was his destination, with new boss David Wagner moving quickly to secure the 22-year-old on a season-long loan deal.
He’s since made a flying start to life in Germany, establishing himself as first-choice at right-back and made four appearances in total, playing 90 minutes in all of those games.
Jonjoe Kenny! What a hit! 🙌
The Everton loanee scored a belter as Schalke beat Hertha Berlin 3-0…
Young English players doing damage in the Bundesliga! pic.twitter.com/yaRFUWYGPr
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) August 31, 2019
Last weekend saw him score his first goal for the club as he smashed in a superb, driven effort from the edge of the box in the 3-0 win over Hertha Berlin.
That was a big moment for the Everton loanee, who says he wants to use this loan spell to show people just how good he is.
“I like it a lot here,” he told Kicker.
“Our coach trusts me and tells me to go forward, that’s up to me, I want to show people how good I am, and the game against Berlin really felt right good. It was a good day for me.”
It seems he’s achieving that goal early on as well. David Wagner has already spoken enthusiastically about his summer signing, who he also wanted to take to Huddersfield last season.
That now appears to have filtered through elsewhere as well. In a piece titled ‘Jonjoe Kenny can be a blast for Schalke’ Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (WAZ) are more than encouraged by Kenny’s early displays.
They say Kenny is ‘so much better’ than they expected, and says fans have raved about his performances, particularly the display against Hertha, likening him to former club favourite and Brazil international Rafinha.
Even his teammates are impressed, with Guido Burgstaller marvelling to WAZ about his latest display.
“He played outstanding,” he said. “What he delivered on the right side was really impressive.”
So, a positive start from Kenny who, if he continues in this form, may have a significant decision to make come next summer with Schalke likely to be keen to make this loan deal from Everton a permanent one.
