Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers seems to rate Nir Bitton highly.
Bitton is a defensive midfielder by trade, but due to injuries to regular defenders, the 26-year-old has been deployed at the back from time to time this season.
The Israel international has played as a defender in the Scottish Premiership and in the Champions League.
Celtic boss Rodgers has claimed that outside of Celtic Park, Bitton is the best central defender in Scotland.
“I look at the performance of Nir Bitton,” Rodgers told The Scottish Sun. “This guy gets slated for not being a centre-half, but I haven’t seen one better outside of Celtic.”
While it is clear that Rodgers is trying to ‘big up’ Bitton – his performances as a centre-back in the Champions League have not been great – his comments also show the lack of quality defenders in Scotland.
After all, what does it tell about defenders from clubs such as Rangers, Hibernian or Aberdeen that a defensive midfielder at Celtic playing as a centre-back at Celtic is better than them?
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