Has Anthony Ralson fallen further down Celtic’s pecking order?
It wasn’t the biggest deal that Celtic pulled off this past summer, but Neil Lennon snapped up Jeremie Frimpong.
The 18-year-old defender joined the Hoops on deadline day.
According to The Scottish Sun, Celtic may end up paying a hefty £1 million for the right-back, who moves from Manchester City.
Long term it’s good news for the Bhoys, who have secured a top young player, but it’s not great news for Anthony Ralston.
Ralston broke into Celtic’s senior squad two years ago but, considering he’s just been loaned to St Johnstone, you could say that the 20-year-old hasn’t quite kicked on.
The addition of Frimpong should worry him because Ralston is also a right-back and if Lennon expected him to be Celtic’s first-choice option for that role in the long term then he probably wouldn’t have signed the teen.
At 20, Ralston, whose contract expires in 2021, has time on his side if he wants to make it at Parkhead.
But the simple fact is that he was already way down Lennon’s pecking order and Frimpong just pushes him further away.
Ralston, who has already come up against Neymar, was good enough to make former Bhoys boss Brendan Rodgers play him in huge Champions League games once upon a time, but a loss of fitness and form has made him something of a forgotten man.
Ralston has been given chances under Lennon, having started a Champions League qualifying win over Nomme Kalju in July, but it would appear as if he hasn’t done enough to impress the Northern Irishman, who went into the transfer window needing quite a few right-backs after losing three.
He will hope that his season-long stint at St Johnstone provides him with enough Premiership experience to make a serious claim in Celtic’s first team next season.
Question is, will Frimpong have done more in the meantime?
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