Chris Sutton feels talk of Liel Abada potentially wanting to leave Celtic is premature. But he is in a ‘strange situation’ with Ange Postecoglou only using the winger as an impact player.
The 21-year-old has only started in 10 of his 29 Premiership outings so far this season. Yet Abada has offered 10 goals and five assists to help Celtic top the table by nine points after 29 games. Only Kyogo Furuhashi has scored more goals for the Glasgow giants yet with 20.
But despite Abada’s regular involvement in Celtic’s goals, Postecoglou is often reluctant to start the forward. Even though the Israel talent has scored six of his goals and laid on three assists after starting. Although two of his early-season performances heavily skew the tally.
Liel Abada has delivered after starting for Celtic but not all that regularly
Abada scored a hat-trick and laid on one assist after starting against Dundee United back in August. He then scored twice against Rangers in the Hoops’ following fixture at the start of September. He has had just two assists against Livingston in December after starting since.
Postecoglou has only opted to start Abada in four of Celtic’s 12 Premiership matches since the Bhoys beat Livingston 2-1. Those fixtures have also featured three goals and an assist for Abada. But just one goal at home to St Mirren this January came when Abada started.
Chris Sutton doubts Liel Abada is looking to leave Parkhead just yet
The 5 ft 6 dynamo only holding an impact role under Postecoglou leaves Sutton feeling like Abada is in an odd place at Celtic. But the Hoops hero doubts the attacker is looking to quit Parkhead yet. The forward signed a contract until May 2026 after joining back in July 2021.
“It’s a strange situation with him,” Sutton wrote in a column for the Daily Record. “He has been terrific this season and his numbers in terms of goals and assists are incredible. He has been sensational when coming off the bench all year.
“But you’ve got to say there have been times when he’s not quite hit the same heights when starting games.
“There might be reasons for that, with teams setting up very defensively early on in games and Abada taking advantage when matches are more stretched. But there is no doubting his quality. The talk about him potentially leaving sounds premature to me.”
Celtic paid Maccabi Petah Tikva £3.5m to sign Abada in 2021 and are under no pressure to let him leave. Yet Postecoglou keeping the winger to an impact role might see him start to consider a move elsewhere. But despite his limited starts, Abada has played in every game.
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