Brendan Rodgers sold a whole host of players last summer, as he cleared the decks at Celtic.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers cleared the decks at Parkhead last summer, getting rid of the likes of Emilio Izaguirre, Logan Bailly and Efe Ambrose. But did he make a mistake on another defender?
Right-back Saidy Janko, 22, was signed from Manchester United’s youth team in the summer of 2015, but he managed just 19 appearances for the Hoops before Rodgers’ arrival.
The Northern Irishman did not fancy Janko and despite playing in seven Celtic games during the start of the 2016-17 season – Rodgers’ first year at Celtic – the right-back was offloaded to English side Barnsley on loan for the season.
Following a decent spell in Yorkshire, Janko was sold by Celtic to Ligue 1 side St. Etienne in France where has starred for Les Verts until the signing of Mathieu Debuchy saw him struggle for game time.
But it was clear to all, that Janko was a player more than capable of impressing on the right side of defence in France’s top tier. Now, French newspaper claim Portuguese giants L’Equipe want the Switzerland youth international.
Mikael Lustig’s form on the right side of defence last term was questionable, while Cristian Gamboa has been ostracised. Even winger James Forrest and centre-back Jack Hendry were used at right-back.
With Janko seemingly impressing since his Celtic departure and now potentially on the horizon of a career-defining move to Porto, Celtic should be ruing Rodgers’ decision to offload Janko.
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