Three players Celtic must cash in on in January

Celtic were incredibly active throughout the recent summer transfer window as a number of players moved on from Parkhead, which allowed the club to bring in fresh recruits.

One star who they may not have wanted to lose, however, was central midfielder Matt O’Riley, who completed a transfer to Brighton & Hove Albion, for a reported Scottish record transfer fee of more than £25m.

As you can see in the table above, the Danish magician was incredibly important to Brendan Rodgers‘ team in the Scottish Premiership, as the main provider of goals and assists.

The Hoops were, however, able to move on some of their fringe players, with Mikey Johnston, Saed Haksabanovic, Tomoki Iwata, and Hyeon-gyu Oh all moving on permanently.

Celtic now have less than two months to prepare for the January transfer window and there are still players in the squad who Rodgers should be looking to cash in on, starting with left-back Alexandro Bernabei.

1

Alexandro Bernabei

The Scottish Sun recently reported that Brazilian side Internacional are interested in a deal to sign the Argentine defender on a permanent basis when his loan ends at the turn of the year.

It was claimed that the Serie A outfit are set to hold talks with Celtic over a potential swoop for the Hoops flop, who cost the club £3.75m from Lanus in 2022.

The outlet did not reveal how much the Hoops are looking to recoup from that fee but Rodgers should attempt to cash in on him amid this interest from Internacional, due to his poor form during his time in Glasgow.

Bernabei spent just under two seasons with the Scottish giants before his loan move to Brazil in March of this year, and failed to impress Ange Postecoglou or Rodgers.

As you can see in the table above, the Argentine flop offered a decent attacking threat but was too much of a defensive liability, being dribbled past 19 times in 12 league starts, whilst losing the majority of his duels.

Bernabei is not the only Celtic dud who should be cashed in on by Rodgers when the January transfer window opens for business, though, as there are at least two others who could be ditched.

2

Stephen Welsh

The second player who should finally be moved on by the Scottish giants is central defender Stephen Welsh, who has not made a single appearance in the Premiership this season.

He has played 85 minutes of football in all competitions, all of which came against Falkirk in the League Cup, and now should be the time to cash in on the Scottish centre-back.

At the age of 24, Welsh should be playing week-in-week-out to develop and improve as a player, and that is – to put it simply – not happening at Celtic.

Maik Nawrocki, Auston Trusty, Cameron Carter-Vickers, and Liam Scales are the manager’s other options in his position, which shows that there is a wealth of depth in that area of the pitch.

This suggests that cashing in on Welsh would not be a big blow to the squad, or a player who would need to be replaced, as Rodgers has plenty of other centre-backs to pick from.

As you can see in the table above, the rarely-seen academy graduate was given opportunities to impress by the manager in the Premiership last season, and failed to take them.

Welsh lost 62% of his ground duels across ten league outings and, incredibly, failed to win a single tackle in those matches, giving away a penalty in that time, making him a lightweight centre-back, rather than a physically imposing one.

In the summer, it was reported that Belgian side KV Mechelen and English Championship clubs were interested in the defender, and Celtic must now ditch him in January if any of those teams reignite their interest in him.

3

Odin Thiago Holm

The third player who should be brutally ditched in the upcoming January transfer window is central midfielder Odin Thiago Holm, who has failed to break into the first-team at Parkhead.

Rodgers swooped to sign the young whiz from Valerenga for a reported fee of £2.6m in the summer of 2023, but he has yet to justify that transfer fee.

Whilst Holm, 21, is still young, the Norwegian flop turns 22 in January and is competing against players at a similar age, as Arne Engels (21) and Paulo Bernardo (22) have both been playing ahead of him.

The 21-year-old dud has only made 12 appearances and started two games in the Premiership since the start of last season, although he is currently out injured with a calf issue.

Holm was an unused substitute on 12 occasions in the 2023/24 campaign and missed out on the matchday squad 25 times in all competitions, with two of those games because of a red card against Feyenoord on his Champions League debut.

As you can see in the table above, the young lightweight made nine appearances in the Premiership last season and failed to offer much in and out of possession, losing the majority of his duels.

Rodgers has rarely used the midfielder since his move to Parkhead and his weakness in duels, along with his lack of consistent quality in possession, could be why the manager has not trusted him to play regularly.

With Engels, Bernardo, Luke McCowan, Reo Hatate, and Callum McGregor all ahead of him, Celtic should look to cut their losses and move on from him in January.

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