Celtic appear to be closing in on their first signing of the January transfer window as Ismaila Soro was recently spotted in Dubai, where the club are currently training. The 21-year-old has been linked with the Hoops for some time now and it looks like all the links are finally leading to something substantial. The midfielder also recently followed Celtic on social media, which has only intensified rumours of him signing with the club.
Soro currently plays for Israel’s Bnei Yehuda. He joined the club back in 2018 and has been impressive enough to be linked with a club the magnitude of Celtic. But the question is: will he be a success at Parkhead?
The club have had mixed success while recruiting players in recent years. But Soro appears to have all the weapons in his arsenal to be a major success in Scotland. A modern defensive midfielder in every sense of the word, his biggest asset is his ability to break down opposition attacks. The Ivorian has a nose for danger, a penchant for popping up at the right place at the right time and will run himself ragged for the entire 90 minutes.
He is also very comfortable with the ball at his feet and has the ability to wriggle out of tight places using his dribbling. That will serve him well especially in the high intensity game of Scotland. Not blessed with an eye for goal, he could frustrate at times when Celtic look to break down opposition defences. But he should be an absolute delight in tighter games against the bigger sides. Short in stature as well, it is hard not to compare his game with that of Chelsea’s N’Golo Kante – the epitome of a defensive midfielder in modern football.
Soro though is nowhere near that level at this point of time. There are a lot of rough edges to his game that need to be polished out. But at only 21 years of age, he is only going to get better with time. And his reported £3-million price tag might very well look like a bargain in the not too distant future if Celtic do manage to get the deal done.
