It is entirely the prerogative of Vinicius Souza to bide his time and wait to make a decision on where he intends to display his undoubted footballing talent next season, however after taking to Instagram to state “Everything has its time” the player has now possibly closed the door on a move to Celtic.
Record Sport had previously reported on Celtic’s stance, with a quote attributed to a Celtic source close to the negotiations with Souza’s representatives, which made it clear the response now coming from the player’s end isn’t likely to be met with patience from the Celtic end of discussions.
“The two parties are still talking but there does come a point in time when Celtic need an answer and that moment is fast approaching.
“If Souza – or his agents – aren’t prepared to commit then the club will simply have to look elsewhere because it’s an area of the team that the manager wants to address as a matter of urgency. Souza absolutely fits the bill in terms of what’s required but he’s not the only option.”
There is no denying Vinicius Souza’s talent as a player, and as more and more would be suitors emerge by the day, it is entirely understandable that the player himself would like to see what options are available now, and perhaps wait for further clubs to raise their own interest in his talents before making a final decision.
Yet from Celtic’s perspective we are not only into pre-season training, we are now as of today back into friendly game preparations for the season ahead.
If Vinicius Souza could decide within a week then perhaps there is hope for a deal to be concluded, to wait longer – which the player can do with later starting seasons in the likes of Spain where Real Betis seem keen on the player – simply wouldn’t be possible for Celtic.
Our season starts on 31 July and Souza would have to be in place long before the league flag is raised against Aberdeen to be in a position to have trained, played with and bonded with his Celtic teammates, as well as understanding the tactical demands Ange Postecoglou makes on new recruits.
Last season’s summer transfer window is now looked back on as a success, and in terms of the vast majority – but by no means all – of the signings it worked out well, but in truth it was a massive rush job and it also impacted on early season results.
That we managed to navigate our way to a league title despite dropping to sixth place with defeat to Livingston last season was nothing short of a footballing miracle. Ange Postecoglou is good but divine he is not. To expect him to risk the same situation occurring by delaying recruitment unnecessarily isn’t something he’s likely to counter.
And with the message being sent out at the end of last season that the manager wished all personnel in the door as early as possible, the possibility of making an exception for Souza – a player the manger we know rates highly – could easily undermine his own stance on transfers and would be at odds with the excellent work done so far that has seen Daizen Maeda, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Jota, Benjamin Siegrist and Alexandro Bernabei all concluded in time for the start of the pre-season tour this evening.
There is always room for exceptions to be made of course, to not be flexible to a certain extent you can paint yourself into a corner. But with no indication on a timescale on a decision emerging from the Vinicius Souza camp, it is clear Celtic and Ange Postecoglou have already offered some flexibility.
Now it appears the player is still willing to wait. If that’s the case Celtic now have to make his career choice that bit easier and remove one option he had to consider, and move on to someone who is certain he wants to play for Celtic.
Niall J
Angi says he wont sell celtic to any player this player has been on loan youll say so was carter vickers and jota but we had a season with them i cant see souza going to celtic but in the manager i trust