Loan moves are the ideal chance for a team to strengthen their squad without forking out a transfer fee, but difficult choices do need to be made once a player starts to perform well.
There will be an immediate clamour from the fans to get them tied up on a permanent basis, and that can also make sense as their price tag will only increase if they continue to do well.
It can be a tough one to get right because we can all think of multiple players who had an outstanding first few games before offering little afterwards, so Celtic find themselves in a tough spot with Diego Laxalt.
READ MORE: Celtic may miss out on pacey winger free transfer as he looks set to sign a new deal with his current club
There was nothing to suggest that Celtic negotiated a fixed purchase option with Milan when the deal went through, so the Italian giants are well within their rights to sell him to the highest bidder at the end of the season.
To get more insight into his situation we spoke to our colleagues at Sempre Milan, and there’s some mixed news for Celtic in this:
“It’s funny because this is the exact mirror of the situation Milan are facing with Diogo Dalot, in that an unwanted player has arrived on a simple loan late in the window and impressed, leading to suggestions that things could become more permanent.”
“Milan have Theo Hernandez at left back who’s one of the best in the world in his position, while Laxalt has shown that he won’t accept being a back up by going on loan to Torino and now Celtic.”
“I can’t see a future for him with the Rossoneri beyond next summer, but the better he does the higher his price will go.”
“There has been talk of a €10m price tag which seems about right, and Laxalt will excel in the Scottish Premiership”
“The problem is that he might look to test himself in a better league after a good season, and that could be bad news for Celtic.”
It makes sense that Milan probably don’t have a long term plan for him if he’s being loaned out at the age of 27, while it’s also admirable that he would rather be a regular starter than accepting a back up role at Milan.
It’s still too early to be making any rash decisions but Celtic do need to start thinking about what they want to do here, so it might make sense to get him tied up in January if they can and if he keeps his level of performance up.
