Celtic transfer linked Johnny Kenny scouted: The Irish up-and-comer with finishing touch and 'fighting spirit'

With a few current players seemingly set for the exit door, continuing to add to the squad remains imperative ahead of the second half of the season.

One name linked with a move to Parkhead is Johnny Kenny. The Republic of Ireland youth international has a reported €150,000 (£125,000) release clause after signing a new contract in November.

But who is he? Where would he fit in if he does join? Is he ready for the step up?

Here, The Celtic Way digs a little deeper to find out more about the Sligo Rovers striker…

Who is Johnny Kenny?

The 18-year-old forward is the second son of a Sligo great, also named Johnny Kenny, and grew up on a farm with five brothers.

A dual-sport athlete in his earlier youth, Kenny played gaelic football alongside his football commitments for Arrow Harps and Coola Post Primary before joining his hometown club’s youth setup.

The teenager was a standout at underage level, winning under-17 player of the year, finishing under-17 league top scorer (with 17 in eight games) and earning a call-up to the under-19s late in their season. He was not fazed by that and bagged a brace in the semi-finals of the under-19 Shield before going even better in the showpiece with four against UCD.

As a result of these displays, Kenny was rewarded with his first professional contract in January 2021 and made enough of an impact in pre-season to start Sligo’s opening League of Ireland match against Dundalk in March.

It was not all plain sailing from there though. In April, after being subbed off at half-time against Shamrock Rovers in a display he condemned as “a stinker”, Kenny told the42 that he felt it was poor enough that he would fall out of the starting XI for the next game.

What happened next? Well, he was right. He did fall out of the team for the next game, which was against Finn Harps at home. Instead, the reverse of his Shamrock Rovers nightmare was true: rather than coming off at half-time after a poor display, he was subbed on at the break and scored the winning goal. He started the next game.

Since then he’s turned 18, had to deal with Covid – which, by his own admission, he “had a rough time with” during the summer – and as a result had to miss Sligo’s 1-0 Europa Conference League qualifier first-leg defeat to Icelandic side Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar in mid-July. He was back for the second leg and scored Sligo’s only goal as they crashed out 3-1 on aggregate.

In the end, Kenny scored 11 goals and supplied three assists in his debut senior season. The former total was good for joint-fifth in the League of Ireland scoring charts; he was the only teenager, and only player under the age of 21 at all, to make the top 10.

What does the data say?

Kenny’s limited senior game-time makes his WyScout analysis a tad underdeveloped – in that it’s all from a very small sample size – but the data is nonetheless encouraging.

While Kenny played 34 club matches in all competitions for Sligo, his actual minutes played puts his game-time as being closer to the equivalent of 24 games.

He slightly underperformed his xG (12 goals v 13.23 xG) which, at his age and level of experience, is more a signifier of having room for improvement than a negative review.

Indeed, his underlying shot locations suggest his actions on the pitch will lead to more goals as he grows into the senior game and not fewer.

More than half of his shots are on target while he carries a 26.2 per cent conversion rate from those (14.1 per cent scoring rate overall, which is a couple of percentage points worse than Kyogo’s for his career when playing as a centre forward).

The ideal shot map for a central striker should show plenty of attempts from close, central locations and in this respect Kenny's is encouraging. He does still have a habit of attempting long-rangers but, to his credit, he hits the target about as often as he misses it from outside the box.

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In terms of link-up play he is more likely to be receiving the final pass than playing it. His overall passing accuracy of 64.6 per cent is on the low side and his 0.37 shot assists per 90 also leave a lot to be desired - though additional game-time and increased coaching could have a positive impact on such facets of his play.

That said, he records more than four touches in the opponent's penalty area per 90 minutes and outperformed his xA of 1.21 by notching three assists this season.

Off the ball, the Irishman is already more than just a scoring centre forward. He is willing to drop deeper to collect possession and has a tendency to take up positions in half-spaces (as his heatmap below shows) which while somewhat unquantifiable tends to free up space for other players to operate. 

He has also said himself that he doesn't mind playing further wide with the opportunity to cut in and shoot with either foot. He told the42: "I played off the right for Ireland [under-19s] but don’t mind coming in on my left foot to let loose too."

On the 'defensive' end, Kenny makes 1.87 interceptions per match and about the same number of recoveries in the opposition half.

While at 5ft 10in he is not short – and, aged 18, is still growing – his aerial threat is only slightly more dangerous than Kyogo’s despite competing for around five more duels per game in the air.

As the below clip suggests, he has work-rate on his side and does chase things down well – although how accurate that attribute is as a reflection of being part of a co-ordinated press on a consistent basis is perhaps still too much of an unknown for now.

On that note, team style similarities are at a minimum.  Celtic clock 70-plus per cent dominance of possession on average while Sligo, by contrast, rack up only 50.4 per cent despite being one of the better teams in their division.

They also play far more long balls per game than Celtic (55.8 v 29.4, though Sligo's number is actually the third-fewest in the League of Ireland) while their PPDA of 8.85 means Kenny is used to playing in a side that presses fairly high (it's about the same value as Rangers though Celtic would still represent an upturn in intensity for him at 6.51 PPDA).

Kenny may well be placed in the B team upon arrival but, as Owen Moffat and Dane Murray have shown this season, there are chances to be had from that platform if you’re ready to grab them.

What kind of person would Celtic be getting?

Kenny hails from the same part of Ireland as Sean Fallon. The Celtic legend once famously said of himself that he was "an ordinary player with a big heart and fighting spirit" – the latter quality is something his younger compatriot may well share.

Both the way Kenny talks about himself and the manner in which those close to him portray him bodes well and paints a picture of a player who has an appetite to learn and to improve the areas of his game not currently at the required level.

“The most pleasing aspect is he has embraced it all. There is a high expectation here and what we’ve seen is a player of real character, someone you can rely on, and with buckets of ability. There has been pressure this season through different aspects and we’ve seen Johnny’s personality shine through, helping the team and scoring important goals.” – Liam Buckley, Sligo Rovers manager.

“When I was coaching him, Johnny was very, very dedicated. He might not have been standing out but he was working away behind the scenes on technique. He was all right footed when he was with me at under-12s and under-13s and then... you could tell he had been working on his left foot. He’s as comfortable with his left as he is with his right now." – Brendan Tuohy, Kenny's former coach with Arrow Harps.

"It gave me a reality check of what’s needed to play every week at this level. I had an absolute stinker and couldn’t get on the ball at all... I wanted to show the right character and show that I could deal with that setback. I came on against Finn Harps as a sub the next week and scored the winner and I hope that was a moment Liam [Buckley] realised he could trust me." – Johnny Kenny himself, after his half-time withdrawal against Shamrock Rovers and subsequent match-winner in the next game.