Kean didn’t understand lockdown rules and wanted to phone Ancelotti to apologise

For a club that has invested so much in helping its community and supporters deal with the coronavirus pandemic, the tabloid headlines on Saturday, April 25 were particularly galling.

Tireless Everton staff have been handing out support packages to vulnerable fans in Liverpool, while Carlo Ancelotti and his players have called supporters in lockdown to lift morale.

Chief executive Denise Barrett-Baxendale decided from day one that staff employed directly by the club would not be furloughed. The club have even been paying match-day stewards for games that aren’t happening.

But meanwhile, in a Cheshire suburb, one of the club’s star players — £25 million striker Moise Kean — was hosting a party, breaching the lockdown and ignoring social distancing guidelines. To make matters worse, he filmed his antics and shared them on social media.

According to the Department of Health and Social Care, 813 people in the UK died of coronavirus that Saturday. Only 48 hours later, prime minister Boris Johnson said the country was in a moment of “maximum risk” and could not say when lockdown measures would be lifted.

Privately, Everton’s senior officials, from Barrett-Baxendale to director of football Marcel Brands and manager Ancelotti, were aghast at Kean’s behaviour.

But they were also frustrated. The 20-year-old had lapsed into the narrative that has dogged him since his arrival in the Premier League last summer, when former Liverpool boss Graeme Souness speculated that he was bad news.

This was not the Kean that Brands and the rest of Everton’s staff have taken time to get to know. There has been a stumble here and there: in November, he was dropped from the squad for a win at Southampton after being late for a team meeting for the second time.

Yet Kean, who has scored once in 26 games since joining from Juventus, was actually heading in the right direction as he attempted to adapt to life in the UK. He has found it difficult being away from his family, particularly mum Isabelle.

Far from being ignorant to the disappointment his lockdown party caused, The Athletic has learned that Kean is genuinely remorseful.

Brands made a call to the striker as soon as he learned of the party, making it clear how his behaviour fell short of what was expected as an Everton player, a professional footballer and, frankly, a citizen. He emphasised to him the responsibility of being a professional and a role model. During the conversation, it emerged that Kean had not understood he was breaching lockdown. His English is still a work in progress and he is believed to have interpreted lockdown as simply meaning an order to stay at home.

Kean’s antics quickly drew parallels with the actions of other Premier League footballers — Kyle Walker arranging for two female escorts to come to his home or Jack Grealish going to see a friend and being pictured at the scene of a car accident — but the Everton player has mainly been guilty of naivety and ignorance.

According to the Daily Star, who broke the story, the video Kean posted on Snapchat showed several women who were “believed to be models” lap-dancing and performing what the newspaper described as “sexy acts”.

However, The Athletic understands everyone in the apartment was part of Kean’s social circle; either friends or friends of friends. There were no sex workers or strippers and the party was not his idea, although he agreed to it.

“The fact he filmed it and posted it on Snapchat shows he didn’t realise he was breaching the rules. Obviously he should have been aware, but he wasn’t,” says a source close to the player.

After his dressing-down from the club, Kean apologised profusely. He then asked Brands if he would allow him to immediately call Ancelotti and say sorry to him, too.

Kean was informed he would be fined and he subsequently received a letter from the club informing him of the disciplinary action and fine total. Both Brands and Ancelotti have agreed to draw a line under the incident. They even hope it may become a turning point.

“Because of his big, powerful physique, it’s easy to think Moise is grown up,” says a source close to the club. “He probably looks older than he is. But his mind is still that of a 20-year-old. He’s a young man who still wants to please his mum and repay the sacrifices she made for him.

“Of course, what Moise did was wrong — there’s no denying that and he accepts it, apologised and has been punished for it — but it’s not just footballers who have found it tough to abide by the lockdown rules.

“Moise is a 20-year-old who is still growing up and this is a harsh life lesson for him. He did something wrong, he has been fined for his actions, and will learn from this.”

Before news of the party emerged, Everton had been enthused by Kean’s progress in lockdown. Ancelotti’s squad has been split into smaller groups, with each one being assigned a member of the coaching team to chart their daily progress, liaise over exercises and equipment, and monitor their general welfare.

At the end of every week, the coaches report back to Brands, who was pleased with Kean’s efforts alongside his fellow forwards, Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Kean had been hitting all of his targets, often doing more than required as he tried to ensure he stays in condition.

“If Moise is asked to train five times a day, he’ll do it, because he loves football,” says someone close to the player. “But he still has difficulties finding things to occupy his time when he is away from the game. Like many young lads, when his mum is with him, he’s fine and settled. But when his mum goes back to Italy, he sometimes struggles for a number of reasons.”

While some players, such as Brazilians Richarlison and Bernard, or Frenchman Lucas Digne, returned to their home countries to be with their families at the start of the pandemic, Kean remained in the UK, more or less alone. The situation was too grave in Italy for him to risk it. Recently, he had begun to struggle with the isolation, and made the error of being talked into the party at his apartment.

“This is the first time in his life that he has lived on his own. He’s in a foreign country, and he has had so much attention,” a source close to Kean tells The Athletic. “Yes, he had previously played a handful of games at Juventus, where he was surrounded by big-name stars, but when he came to Everton, because of the money involved, he was viewed as a big signing himself. It’s not easy for young players to cope with that extra attention and expectation.

“If you compare him to, say, Romelu Lukaku arriving at Chelsea, Romelu only played in the reserves to start with (the 18-year-old Lukaku made just eight league appearances in his debut season, starting only once). Everton always saw Moise as a young player with great potential, who was one for the future, because you cannot expect a 19-year-old (as he was at the start of the season) to come in and change a big club like Everton overnight.

“He was always going to need time to adapt to the Premier League, to the culture, and to the language, as well as adapting to living on his own. This is the first time in his life that he’s had to experience that, so this is all new for him.”

Behind the scenes, Everton are encouraging the youngster to follow the examples, both on and off the field, of his team-mates Calvert-Lewin and Mason Holgate. That pair both bided their time waiting for the opportunity to play a run of games then took the chance when it arrived. It has also been suggested Kean learns from their use of social media.

“They’re both individuals with big personalities who like to express themselves — look at how Dom dresses,” says the source close to the club. “But they are savvy in what they post. It’s wholesome stuff while also expressing their individuality and background. There’s nothing wrong with Moise doing the same, but he just needs to think before he posts.”

Interview with @TheAthleticUK ⚽🔥

Have a read 👉🏾 https://t.co/skK6uiyCDJ pic.twitter.com/XPrMA0HTue

— Dominic Calvert-Lewin (@CalvertLewin14) March 19, 2020

In January, Kean faced a backlash after he appeared to have filmed himself driving at 50mph while joking with Everton fans in another car. The fans had pulled up close to his car and copied Kean’s goal celebration, prompting him to film them and caption the clip: “I love Everton fans!”

“The lad’s heart is in the right place,” says the source close to Everton. “You see how he is around the training ground. It’s a family club and he feels part of it. He jokes with (kitman) Jimmy Martin and (masseur) Jimmy Comer and has started saying ‘Lad’ when he speaks, like a Scouser.

“The club gives Moise more support than most of the players. Everyone’s aware he needs it, and at the same time the club is aware he’s trying.”

Kean has not sulked despite his limited game time so far. He even took it in his stride when he was substituted just 18 minutes after coming on in the second half of a televised game against Manchester United in December.

His low goal return and lack of starts (five in the league) have added to his frustration. Even after the embarrassing withdrawal at Old Trafford, Kean was reassured the decision was made by coach Duncan Ferguson on positional failings when United had the ball, not anything to do with his work rate.

“It has been a difficult start for him because the expectations were so high and the fans were so excited about him signing,” says the source close to the striker. “Moise wanted to make a big impression straight away but that’s almost impossible — he was always going to need time to adjust.

“Gradually, over time, the coaches started to see a big improvement in training sessions, he started to score more goals in training. That was starting to happen while Marco Silva was still in charge, but the arrival of Carlo Ancelotti gave him an extra step in confidence, partly because they speak the same language. Carlo can go into more detail with him.

“But his confidence was growing and scoring his first goal (in January against Newcastle United) was a big moment for him — he was really happy with that — because that was something that was playing on his mind. All strikers want to get off the mark as soon as possible when they join a new club.

“It was always going to take him a year or so to adapt, but Everton are very lucky to have three young, talented strikers in the squad in Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison and Moise. They will only get better together.

“It’s no secret Carlo tried to take Moise to Napoli before the start of this season. He likes him as a player and thinks he has got big potential. In order for him to fulfil that potential, he needs time and patience. Moise himself sometimes gets impatient — but he has to be nurtured carefully.

“He is desperate to show his talent, score goals and to celebrate with the Everton fans.”

Everton may have been disappointed, embarrassed even, by Kean’s actions at his home last month. But they’re not ready to give up on him.

(Photo: Jan Kruger/Getty Images)