Midfield
In the midfield position at Celtic, we look our strongest with Kouassi, McGregor, Rogic, Brown, Bitton, Christie and Ntcham all vying for positions. It was evident that neither Youssouf Mulumbu and Scott Allan were good enough for Celtic, despite impressing in spells at Kilmarnock and Hibs respectively.
Ewan Henderson has swapped Glasgow for Dingwall to join Ross County on loan, something which will hopefully result in Henderson being able to secure regular first team football with a view to returning to Celtic next season. It would have been good if Kouassi could have got a loan to get game time; however, as he has just returned from a serious injury, it makes sense that the club are keen to keep him close by.
Despite the click-bait rumours that Tom Rogic was headed for Zenit St Petersburg and Olivier Ntcham was playing his ticket, hopeful of a move to France (not click bait) or Callum McGregor was set to be reunited with Brendan Rodgers at Leicester (click bait), it would appear that Celtic have ended the summer in a stronger position than they entered it.
Luca Connell was signed from Bolton Wanderers for a £350k development fee and he is one to watch for the future. A defensive midfielder, who is rated highly by Irish National coaches is expected to play a role in the reserve team and progress from there. Liam Burt, who rejected a deal from the Rangers, arrived as a development option.
Attack
In attack, Celtic lost Timothy Weah and Oliver Burke, who left at the end (or just before the end in Timo’s case) of their loans. Their time in Glasgow offered glimpses of talent; however, both failed to impress Neil Lennon or their parent clubs and departed. Weah was sold by PSG to Lille while Burke has gone to Spain on loan for the season. Our strengths lie in James Forrest and Odsonne Edouard, with a good pool of squad players to facilitate their talents. The left sided position has been aided by a coming of age for Mikey Johnston, who Neil Lennon has preferred to Scotty Sinclair so far this season.
Despite his record £9 million fee, Edouard has gone from strength to strength. His goal on Sunday proved that he is a truly exceptional talent that can do it when called upon. His heroics in May against Hearts showcased how he can turn a game on its head. James Forrest, as well, has gone from strength to strength – which is why Neil Lennon has promised to reward him with a new deal.
Maryan Shved arrived at the club, having been signed in January and has thus far failed to make an impact. Shved will be hoping to get his chance as Celtic enter the busier months of the season despite appearing behind Mikey Johnson, Jonny Hayes and Lewis Morgan in Neil Lennon’s plans.
The depth of the squad hasn’t stopped Celtic completing an inspired piece of business with Celtic completing the Southampton loan signing of Norwegian International Mohamed Elyounoussi. The 25-year-old joined the Saints for £16 million last summer and as a player that can play off the left or up front offers a quality first team option for the club. This means that game time will be hard to come by for both Scotty Sinclair and Lewis Morgan. What the future holds for Daniel Arzani remains to be seen, who has one year remaining on his loan from Manchester City.
With Leigh Griffiths and Vakoun Bayo to support Edouard in attack, the club look promising going forward, especially with the amount of games that we had to play with just one quality striker last season.
The club also signed Southampton youngster Jonathan Afolabi, who will be one for the future as Jack Aitchison left Celtic for Forest Green Rovers on a season long loan.
Cutting the Dead Weight
This summer promised to see a lot of players deemed not good enough end their spells at Celtic – Compper, Gamboa and Mulumbu to name a few. Celtic did well to negotiate their release.
Unfortunately, Celtic weren’t able to cut certain numbers from their squad – such as Calvin Miller and Jack Hendry, who were unable to secure moves away. American duo Manny Perez and Andrew Gutman returned to the USA to gain experience. Players like Lewis Morgan and Eboue Kouassi could have benefitted from loan moves away; albeit they still remain part of the first team.
Scotty Sinclair appeared to be one that was marked to be sold this window; however, no move materialised and Sinclair has fallen down the manager’s plans. Especially given the number of options in his position, it remains to be seen why Celtic triggered an option in Sinclair’s contract so that he’d remain at Celtic another year. If he is on £30k a week that is an expensive mistake to have been made at Board level.
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