Blue’s still the colour for Jonjoe

LIFE just doesn’t get any better for Jonjoe Kenny at Goodison Park.

A Blue through and through, the 24-year-old has been at Everton for 16 of those years.

New boss Frank Lampard is a big fan and Kenny is being coached by former Chelsea and England left-back Ashley Cole (below).

He does have some big decisions to make.

Born in Liverpool, Kenny has played for all of England’s underage sides, yet qualifies for the Republic of Ireland through his grandparents.

And his contract is up in the summer.

But it is easy to see why Kenny has a big smile on his face.

“For every player – the best in the world, it doesn’t matter who you are – belief from the manager can make a big impact,” he said.

“Everyone knows what a career Frank Lampard had as a footballer, but now looking at him as a manager, he’s been brilliant.

“I’ve spent a lot of time with Ashley Cole [working on] defensively going from right-back to left-back and changing my body shape and how I defend.

“He’s been different class because for me he was the best in the world at the time so I’ve got the best to learn off.

Asked if his preference would be to remain at Goodison Park, Kenny (above) quickly responds: “Yeah! I’ve been here 16 seasons now and, of course, I’m a boyhood Blue and I love the club.

“Nothing has been said. It might sound a bit cliched but I just need to keep my head down and keep doing what I need to do to keep playing football.”

As recently as last summer, it did not look like an extended Everton stay would even be an option for the young defender.

He had spent the majority of the last two seasons on loan at Schalke and Celtic, while the signing of fellow fullbacks Vitaliy Mykolenko and Nathan Patterson did not appear to bode well for his chances.

But he said: “I came back to play. I want to play for Everton, that’s the goal.

“A lot of things happened in the transfer window in the summer, there was speculation about whatever was happening with me.

“But I changed the mindset that I wanted to play for Everton.

“It was about sticking to what I believe in and belief in myself, keeping distractions away and keeping a laser focus.

“That’s still where I’m at and I’ve got plenty more to offer.”