Benjamin Arthur’s Van Dijk comparison does no-one any good…
New Celtic signing Benjamin Arthur has somewhat creeped under the radar, and understandably so due to the influx of desperately needed attacking recruits that were ushered through the door on the same day as the 20 year old defender.
The 6ft 4in centre back is something of an unknown quantity to most Celtic supporters although the Dundee manager Steven Pressley, who worked with Benjamin Arthur at Brentford, spoke very highly of the player last week.
Arthur has still to appear in the English Premier League for Brendford and is seen very much as a player of significant potential in the eyes of those who matter at The Bees. At Celtic it will be just the same, as Auston Trusty and Liam Scales are very much seen as automatic picks in the centre of defence. However he will get chances to impress and to gain some much needed match-day experience playing in a side like Celtic where the demands for success are always significantly than at most clubs.
The Brentford will see much more first team action in Glasgow, but he’s far from the first team centre-back we’re crying out for. In my opinion we should have kept hold of Stephen Welsh, but then again Martin O’Neill knows much better than me or you, so we can only trust his judgement on this one.
As mentioned above Dundee boss and one time Celtic centre back Steven Pressley has showered praise on the on loanee from Brentford, having worked with him up closely during a spell on the coaching staff at the EPL side.
Pressley was extremely complementary towards the player, so much so that he compared him to a young Virgil Van Dijk! High praise indeed, but not the sort of burden the youngster needs at this stage of his development.
It’s a comparison that does no-one any favours at all, more importantly it’s one that will do more harm to the player, something we’ve seen in the past, with not just Celtic players, but players from other clubs up and down the country.
I’m sure that Benjamin Arthur has the great potential to be a top player and will have a great career in the game, but the fact of the matter is, he’s a young player just starting out, and merely at Celtic as back up cover for the rest of the season.
But Virgil Van Dijk he’s certainly not. Play your own game son and make your own name famous in football.
Just an Ordinary Bhoy
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