Liam Scales has offered a heartfelt and confident assessment of Johnny Kenny’s prospects following the striker’s £3 million switch to Preston North End, insisting there’s no ceiling on what his close friend can achieve now he’s away from Celtic Park.
The two Irishmen forged a genuine bond after Kenny arrived from Sligo Rovers in January 2022, just six months after Scales himself had made the move to Glasgow. Kenny was only 18 at the time, and Scales took it upon himself to help the young striker settle into life at a massive club in a foreign country.
Scales said, according to the Glasgow Times: “I got on really well with Johnny. He was only 18; he was a boy. I kind of took him under my wing, and we did a lot together, spent a lot of time together. To see him develop and grow into the man he is now, it was a great journey we’ve had together.”
From Sligo To The First Team
Kenny’s path to Celtic’s first team wasn’t a straight line. There were loan spells at Queen’s Park and Shamrock Rovers along the way as he sharpened his game, before he eventually broke through, finishing with seven goals and three assists in 32 appearances for the Hoops.
That opportunity dried up this season, particularly during Wilfried Nancy’s difficult period in the dugout, and the arrival of new attacking options in Camilo Duran, Kasper Hogh and Shim Mheuka only added to the queue ahead of him. A loan to Bolton Wanderers in January gave him game time again, and it’s clear that spell shaped what came next.
Backing His Man To Kick On
Scales sees the Preston move as exactly the step Kenny needed – regular football, a fresh challenge, and a chance to build on what he showed at Bolton. He said: “I’ll keep in touch with him; he’s a close friend. I do think he’ll hit the ground running and score a lot of goals. He showed in his loan spell at the end of last season, he’s got a lot of quality, and I think the stage he’s at now, that’s what he wanted, to go and play games and score goals.”
There was sadness too, with Scales adding: “I’m obviously sad to see him go, and I think a part of him will be sad because he spent a lot of time here and developed as a man here as well. So he’ll be sad to leave, but I think the sky’s the limit now for him.” He was equally quick to praise Kenny’s temperament through the tougher spells at Celtic, noting the striker never let the pressure show.
Mon The Hoops – and best of luck to Johnny Kenny down south.
