Lawrence Shankland played against Celtic target Vinicius Souza twice last season while starring for Belgian side Beerschot and the former Ayr and Dundee United Scotland international striker was mightily impressed with the Brazilian midfielder who he compares to Nir Bitton.
Speaking to Daily Record Shankland talked about Souza and describes the attributes that have made him one of Ange Postecoglou’s top targets as he looks to secure a top quality holding midfielder and we’ve already reported on how the Celtic manager has been prepared to go the extra mile to convince the Brazilian to sign.
“I remember playing against Souza,” Shankland said. “He’s hard to miss as he’s a tall, athletic guy who makes an instant impression on you as he’s a bit of a machine.
“We played Mechelen twice and both times we struggled. They’re a good side and Souza is a big part of how they play as he sits in front of the defence and dominates in that area.
“We struggled in the two games against them and in both games he performed well. He does the simple things well. The role he performed was as a holding player in the midfield. He doesn’t over-complicate things, he just keeps things ticking over and moving the ball forward.
“He looked technically very good and is a good reader of the game. He puts me in mind of Nir Bitton.
“It would make sense that Celtic are looking for that type of player now that Bitton has moved on. Celtic will have been impressed as he’s had a good season in Belgium and clubs have clearly taken notice.
“Souza has a similar type of stature to Bitton and looks more than capable of going into Celtic and doing a similar job to the one Bitton carried out.”
And Shankland notes that at 6 ft 2, Souza can bring a height advantage that could be a great additional asset to Celtic this season.
“From what I saw of him in the two games, Souza is good on the ball and has a presence about him. He’s a big lad and a threat at set-pieces. Celtic don’t really carry that threat from midfield in terms of size but they have boys like Callum McGregor who put in the miles. So it could help complement that and provide a good balance.
“If Souza was beside him then I can see Callum getting a bit more freedom to get about the pitch and get himself further forward with the shackles off him a bit more. From what I remember of Souza he likes to do the tidying up in the midfield area and hold his position.
“He is very disciplined in that role,” Shankland added.
“Souza has arrived in Belgium from Brazil and it says a lot that he can move from the other side of the world and adapt so quickly to a European league. He’s only 23 but he looks far more mature and experienced than he should be for a player of that age. He looks as though he’s been playing that midfield role for years.
“That’s the way he comes across on the pitch and is clearly an intelligent player. He’s not someone who goes about the pitch demanding the ball and trying to run the game.
“When we played Mechelen we sat in and they did knock the ball around in front of us. But he wasn’t the midfield controller, he sat in front of the defence and made sure we couldn’t hurt them on the counter-attack.”
