Carlo Ancelotti has reassured Moise Kean that he can succeed at Everton despite making a slow start by telling him that even Michel Platini took time to settle in a different country.
The £27 million (Dh128m) forward is yet to score in 14 appearances since his summer move from Juventus and suffered the ignominy of being substituted just 18 minutes after coming on against Manchester United by caretaker manager Duncan Ferguson.
But new manager Ancelotti is an admirer of his fellow Italian, who he had hoped to sign for Napoli in the summer, as he vowed not to give up on Kean.
And he is a believer that it can take time for foreign players to adapt to a new club and a new league, telling Kean that even the great Platini struggled at first at Juventus.
The Frenchman came close to leaving Juve during a difficult debut year in Turin but went on to win three consecutive Ballons d’Or as he top-scored in Serie A three times and got the only goal in the 1985 European Cup final.
Teenager Kean is Italy’s second youngest ever scorer and Ancelotti said: “We wanted to sign him in Napoli last year. Everton arrived first. He showed a fantastic quality, he is a top talent but he is 19 years old, he has to adapt. He arrived here in a new country, new team-mates, everything was new here for him.”
Ancelotti instead bought Hirving Lozano from PSV Eindhoven and the Mexico international winger only scored once in his first 10 games. The former Real Madrid and Chelsea manager said: “I had the same problem with Lozano who is not 19 years old but 23, 24. It takes time.”
Ancelotti thought back to his playing career. He was a team-mate of the Brazil midfielder Falcao, who had a slow start to life at Roma, and an opponent of Platini in Serie A.
He added: “When I was a player, I remember Falcao or Platini arrived from St Etienne to Juventus, it took six months, and that was Platini. We need to be patient with the young players.”
Kean’s signing was driven more by director of football Marcel Brands than former manager Marco Silva but he has not started a game since October.
Everton host Burnley on Thursday in Ancelotti’s first game in charge with Kean likely to be involved at some stage.
