After being released by Rangers' youth team, McLean started his senior career at SPL club St Mirren. He went on loan to Second Division side Arbroath for the second half of the 2009–10 season, before returning to St Mirren and breaking into the first team. He moved to current club Aberdeen in 2015.
He has represented Scotland at the under-19 and under-21 international levels.
McLean moved on loan from St Mirren to Second Division club Arbroath in December 2009. Arbroath signed McLean, along with Kilmarnock striker Daniel McKay, to cover for injuries. On 12 December, McLean made his debut for Arbroath in a 4–3 loss to Stirling Albion. Shortly after this match, Arbroath signed McLean's St Mirren team mate Kyle Faulds on loan. On 10 April, McLean scored his only goal for Arbroath, a penalty kick in a 4–2 loss against Stirling Albion. He made a total of 23 appearances during the second half of the 2009–10 season. Arbroath were relegated to the Third Division at the end of the season, after losing to Forfar Athletic in the relegation play-off. McLean has said that his loan spell at Arbroath helped him develop as a player and also to become more mature.
LewisFerguson earns rave reviews captaining Bologna but was left out of that midfield as Kenny McLean started. This is not to decry McLean, a fine servant for his country, but picking a Championship ...
Ryan Christie’s suspension from the first leg saw Clarke keep faith with Kenny McLean in Piraeus and it worked out just fine as Scotland held on for dear life to emerge with a 1-0 win ... to McLean.
Thus, barely a second thought was given to John McGinn winning his 75th cap, Scott McTominay claiming his 60th and Kenny McLean hitting his half-century, while James Wilson becoming Scotland’s...
For Kenny McLean, though, the vision of how he thought the evening might go clashed all the harder with the reality ... “Obviously it's a moment that I';ve been looking at for the last few games now,” McLean said.
Read more. ... John McGinn is set to earn his 75th cap this evening, with McTominay reaching 60 and Kenny McLean 50 ...Greece away is a difficult place to go ... Gordon, Ralston, Robertson, McTominay, Hanley, McGinn, Gilmour, Adams, Christie, Souttar, McLean ... .
CheAdams had a penalty appeal rejected before Scott McTominay had an angled shot saved after being played through by Kenny McLean ... McLean and Adams also went off as Kieran Tierney and LewisFerguson ...
CheAdams had a penalty appeal rejected before Scott McTominay had an angled shot saved after being played through by Kenny McLean ... McLean and Adams also went off as Kieran Tierney and LewisFerguson ...
This was a bruising loss, one which recalled the old wisdom about it always being the hope that kills you ... Crucially, they took their chances ... On his 50th cap, Kenny McLean’s first act was to bend a ball round the Greek defence for Scott McTominay ... .
Even Kenny McLean, still seen in some quarters as something of a fringe man despite producing some hugely influential moments, is poised to be added to the SFARoll of Honour by completing a half-century of appearances in dark blue.
There was no shortage of criticism levelled at Scotland manager Steve Clarke in the wake of the massive anti-climax of Euro 2024 ... ‘Kenny McLean’s goal away in Norway was amazing and I thought he was amazing that day as well ... Advertisement ... .