Celtic appear to be moving further and further away from that all-conquering side who out-played and out-passed all before them under Brendan Rodgers and towards a game-plan (if indeed you can call it a game-plan) that relies almost solely on moments of individual brilliance.
Noa Lang, then, would have fit right in.
A winger who honed his supreme technical gifts within the walls of Ajax’s Johan Cryuff Arena might not be to everyone’s tastes – he himself admits that his brazen self-confidence could be difficult to stomach, even in the straight-talking world of Dutch football – but he certainly has the talent to back up his belief.
In five Jupiler League games since joining Belgian champions Club Brugge in a £5.5 million deal, Lang has scored three times.
Yet a sensational overhead kick in the 1-0 weekend win over KV Kortrijk was undoubtedly the pick of the bunch.
“My goal is perhaps spectacular,” said an outspoken youngster who became the first player in 60 years to score a hat-trick on his Ajax debut 11 months ago (DHNet).
“I’m glad I was able to be decisive today,” Lang added to Sporza. “Was it my best goal? I don’t think so. It is in the top 10, I will say.”
Clearly, this is a player who trades in the spectacular.
Unfortunately for Celtic, who showed an interest in Lang over the summer (Goal), the lure of Champions League football at Brugge – however brief – meant that interest from Glasgow never really grabbed him in quite the same way.
“I have to think about myself and make sure I reach the top. That’s why Brugge was the best choice,” he said upon his unveiling at Club Brugge.
“This club has a lot of ambition and potential – and I want to be part of that. The goal should be to spend the winter (of 2021) in the Champions League.”
A 3-0 defeat to Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday means the Europa League is the best Lang can realistically hope for in the second half of this season.
But that is more than can be said for a Celtic side who have won just two of their last eight games, a 4-1 humiliation at home to Sparta Prague hammering another nail in Neil Lennon’s continental coffin.
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