During Ange Postecoglou’s two-year reign in charge at Parkhead, Celtic’s signings tended to fall into two distinct categories.
Undisputed successes, such as Liel Abada, Kyogo Furuhashi, Reo Hatate and Jota. And unquestioned failures; Olivier Abildgaard, James McCarthy and Yosuke Ideguchi.
The successes far outweighed the failures, however, while relatively few fell somewhere in the middle. Few, but not all. Sead Haksabanovic, perhaps more than any over player brought in during the Postecoglou’s Celtic era, is coated in a thick shade of grey.
Not quite a success. Not quite a failure.
Yes, the former West Ham United forward scored five goals and set up four more during his debut season in Scotland. But he also started only eight of Celtic’s 38 Premiership games on route to yet another domestic title. He was not included in Postecoglou’s XI for any of their six Old Firm derbies throughout the campaign, playing only six minutes of the League Cup final.
Haksabanovic managed only 14 in the Scottish Cup decider too.
Sead Haksabanovic faces uncertain future at Celtic
The £1.7 million signing from Rubin Kazan lacks the searing pace or the prodigious pressing of Daizen Maeda, the finishing of Liel Abada, or the sparkling footwork of Jota. If the rest of Celtic’s wingers are specialists in one particular area – Maeda the workhorse, Abada the goalscorer and Jota the magician – then Haksabanovic feels more like of a jack-of-all-trades.
A useful back-up for a Celtic side with a fixture schedule tighter than vacuum-packed can of sardines. But not really a key first-team player.
“I actually think he has a decent future at Celtic,” Hoops legend Chris Sutton summed up recently, speaking to the Daily Record.
“Things haven’t worked out for various reasons; injuries, and he’s had Maeda, Jota and Abada ahead of him. Celtic have good competition in those wide areas.”
With reports suggesting that Celtic have agreed a fee with Melbourne City’s Marco Tilio – and with Yang Hyun-Jun also confirming that he too has an offer on the table from Parkhead – things could still get, if not worse, than certainly harder for Haksabanovic at Parkhead.
Tilio – 10 goals, six assists and a member of last season’s A-League Team of the Season – is versatile, highly-technical and capable of thriving on either flank. You can say the same of Yang.
And with Maeda, Abada and Jota all expected to stay as well, Haksabanovic could find himself under pressure to make a positive start to the new campaign or risk falling even further down the pecking order.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
