The club’s recruitment policy, which may have left Brendan Rodgers’ team in worse shape than it was last season, has Celtic fans perplexed. Key players like Carl Starfelt and Jota left last summer, but it is difficult to identify a comparable successor for either, at least in terms of calibre.
Since coming, Brendan Rodgers has made Luis Palma a regular starter on the left flank; however, his play has started to suffer, and he was substituted out during the half against Kilmarnock last weekend. On defence, Gustaf Lagerbielke and Maik Nawrocki both cost a good deal of money when they joined the team, and between them, they played just 18 games in green and white [Transfermarkt]. It is difficult to pinpoint the exact point at which it went wrong in either instance, even though both players experienced several months in the wilderness despite apparently being ready to play.
In the absence of Cameron Carter-Vickers, Rodgers has chosen to start Stephen Welsh and Liam Scales in a back-two configuration for the Hoops in their past three home games. Nawrocki has at least displayed encouraging signs of life at Parkhead; yet, considering that Lagerbielke rarely even makes the bench, the case of his apparent departure has caused significant confusion among the fanbase.
Gustaf Lagerbielke’s role at Celtic is questioned once more
Lagerbielke arrived at Parkhead for an estimated £3 million in expenses, and he made himself known in January in an attempt to finalise a last-minute loan transfer to Serie A team Lecce, which fell through late in the transfer window.
Speaking about his predicament, Motherwell midfielder Andy Halliday, who is now on loan, said he is perplexed that the Sweden international hasn’t been given enough chances to demonstrate why he belongs in Rodgers’ squad.
“I look at Lagerbielke; I feel he hasn’t had enough opportunity to show that he is good recruitment,” Halliday said [Clyde 1 Superscoreboard]. “We have seen a lot of him; I believe he has performed well when he entered games. However, it appears that he has vanished entirely from view throughout the past several months.
In light of the circumstances, it is puzzling that there hasn’t been a problem that has resulted in Lagerbielke’s peculiar status as Lennoxtown’s extra body. There’s now nothing to suggest that his Celtic career can be saved, and the most likely scenario is that he leaves in the summer, either permanently or on loan, leaving more questions than answers about the Bhoys’ hiring process.
