The Toffees boss is eager for his young Italian striker to forge his own path in England
Everton coach Marco Silva has attempted to shut down any comparisons between new signing Moise Kean and the club’s former striker Romelu Lukaku.
Kean joined the Toffees over the summer from Juventus in a deal worth up to €30m (£27m/$33m) after a breakout season in Italy, and he has already caught the eye across two substitute appearances in the Premier League.
As a physically strong centre forward, comparisons have quickly been made between Kean and former Toffees striker Lukaku, who was voted the club’s player of the season in 2016-17 before moving to Manchester United and most recently Inter.
While Silva has been impressed with Kean’s early performances, the Portuguese manager stressed the young striker shouldn’t be compared to anyone.
“You have to be calm and don’t start making these comparisons,” Silva said.
“Moise Kean is Moise Kean and Lukaku is Lukaku. It doesn’t make sense to make these comparisons.
“We are happy he’s here with us and the boy is also happy to be in our football club. Now it’s up to him to keep working hard and do the things I expect from him and our fans expect from him.
“The comparisons are not fair on him. He’s 19 years old and it’s unfair to put this pressure on him.”
Kean has been restricted to just 39 minutes of action so far this season after joining Everton late in pre-season.
After nearly scoring as a substitute last weekend in the Toffees’ 1-0 win over Watford, Silva hinted Kean could start against Aston Villa on Friday.
“If you’re asking me if he’s fit to play 90 minutes, then I don’t see reasons why not,” he said.
“He didn’t play one pre-season match. Even with his former club, he didn’t play a pre-season game, only some training sessions with the Under-23s and then full sessions with the first team after.
“He looks fit to play more time if I decide he’s able to do so.”
Prior to joining Everton, Kean sought the advice of his team-mates at Juventus, with Cristiano Ronaldo urging the Italian to follow his dreams.
The 19-year-old made 13 league appearances for the Serie A champions last season, scoring six goals during an impressive span.
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