NorthEnder

Hello everyone. I just signed up to give some insight into Kian Best from a North End perspective and from our end. So, Kian is a local lad and came through our youth set up. He came through as a central midfielder, but as he got older, he was moved to LB/LCB/LWB. He has a lovely left foot and pretty good delivery from a set piece. He got a chance in our first team, at LWB, a couple of years ago at the start of the season. Not so much because he earned it, more that we had nobody else fit. He did ok and got a call up to the England youth team. When the injuries eased he was struggling to even make the bench as rumours began to circulate regarding his attitude. Towards the end of the summer ‘24 window the club received a bid from a Saudi club. The club deemed it good business and we’re happy to accept it. Kian and his ‘representatives’ decided against the move but, being in the last year of his contract, decided to use it as leverage and were allegedly seeking parity with seasoned Championship earners within the squad. Paul Heckingbottom walked into the club, as Ryan Lowe had left after the first game of the season, just before the Saudi bid came in. One of the problems for Kian is, Heckingbottom wants his plays to be fit. Whilst Kian was allegedly demanding senior pro money, our 47 year old manager, outperformed him in the fitness tests he conducted when he arrived. Kian was now struggling to get games for what is essentially our reserve team. Come January the club had a loan bid from Dundee, Kian and his ‘representatives’ rejected it. The club then sorted out a move to Bohemians in Ireland and Kian joined them. He barely played over there. During a fan meeting, our director Peter Ridsdale, was asked about Kian. Ridsdale said that he’s not here because his attitude was dreadful and that was also the reason he wasn’t getting games for Bohemians. Kian was released and his ‘nobody told me’ Instagram post made Sky Sports News. The club swiftly put out a statement to say all players and agents were aware of their contract situations. Kian deleted his post. There is a player in there but he never displayed anything to suggest he was going to be good enough to be a Premier League player, never mind a player of Chelsea’s level. As I say, he has a wonderful left foot but he’s not particularly big, he’s not really got any pace, he’s not particularly good in the air, he’s not particularly strong. His biggest problem though is seemingly his attitude. Sort that out and maybe you’ll sell him for a couple of million if he can get a few decent loan spells lower down. Ultimately, I suppose it’s a relatively low risk for you guys. Chuck him in a youth team and see how he does.