Kenneh moved north for crack at the big games
NEW Hibernian signing Nohan Kenneh has revealed the ‘exciting’ prospect of Edinburgh derbies and taking on the Old Firm helped convince him to turn his back on Leeds United.
The 19-year-old has spent the last eight years coming through the ranks at the English Premier League club and a new contract was in the offing.
But the midfielder, who arrived in England as a refugee from Liberia aged just six, instead decided it was time for him to ‘become a man’ and take the plunge at Easter Road.
He said: “The best thing for me was to come and play.
“I had a lot of offers, abroad as well, but in football terms Scotland is closer in style to England. I think physically and tactically I can get better.
“I’m really looking forward to the physicality. It’s one of my attributes, I like to be physical. You want to test yourself against people stronger than you, that improves you as a player.
“This will be my first season, hopefully, in senior games. There could be big games -
Rangers, Celtic, the Hearts derby game. That’s amazing. Those games could only improve me.”
Despite being a highly-rated member of their under-23s and on the bench for Leeds 14 times in the English top-flight last season, Kenneh never made the first-team debut he craved.
That failure to make the step up played a major role in the teenager’s decision to try his luck at Hibs, who flew out to Portugal yesterday for their warm-weather training camp.
Kenneh added to the Yorkshire Evening Post: “I wish that I’d played for the first-team. That’s my biggest regret, that I didn’t get the chance.”