It hasn’t proven to be a dream return to France for Celtic midfielder Olivier Ntcham so far, it probably has to be said.
The 25-year-old signed for Marseille on a half-season loan in January.
But fast forward three months and Ntcham has managed just 119 minutes of Ligue 1 football for the club, spread across three appearances.
In terms of talent, the former Manchester City youth, a £4.5 million signing in 2017, is one of the best at Celtic.
But attitude and application issues seem to have stifled the Frenchman – labelled ‘highly gifted’ by Brendan Rodgers in 2017 – in Glasgow.
That being said, he might get a second crack at impressing at Parkhead and that’s because La Provence have reported that Marseille won’t be keeping him, meaning that a summer return to Lennoxtown is on the cards.
The French giants have the option to sign him on a permanent basis for £4.5 million but as thing stand, he’s heading back to Scotland.
And honestly, it might not be such a bad thing.
After all, the manager who loaned out Ntcham – Neil Lennon – is no longer at Celtic and by the time he gets back, there’ll be a long-term replacement in place.
Lennon never seemed able to get the best out of Ntcham, but the same may not be true for the Irishman’s successor.
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