Olivier Ntcham will move to Celtic from Manchester City in one of the summer’s most eye-catching deals.
Celtic signing Olivier Ntcham has certainly captured the imagination on the green half of Glasgow.
According to the Scottish Sun, the 21-year-old playmaker will complete a £4 million move to Celtic from Manchester City and thereby become the club’s first signing in this transfer window.
Despite a mixed, two-year loan spell at Genoa, who opted against signing him permanently, Ntcham’s talent is not in question. After all, City certainly believed in his talent, so much so that were willing to pay £1 million to land the then 16-year-old from Le Havre back in 2012.
Manchester City’s Olivier Ntcham
Now 21, the former France Under-16 captain has not grown into the long-term successor for Yaya Toure. But Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has previous when it comes to helping talented youngsters realise their potential, meaning the Scottish treble winners could have quite a talent on their hands.
At least if the words of Genoa president Enrico Preziosi are anything to go by.
“I’ve been in the world of football (for) 26 years and I’ve never seen a similar player at his age. He has unlimited potential, and is really a fantastic talent,” Preziosi said in quotes reported by FourFourTwo.
However, if there is one person who may not be too thrilled at Ntcham’s arrival, it is a midfielder two years his junior. It is fair to say Kouassi Eboue endured a sluggish start to life at Celtic since moving from Krasnodar in January, struggling to make much of a positive impression in his four Scottish Premiership appearances.
And it is difficult to tell where his chances would come from with Tom Rogic, Stuart Armstrong, Scott Brown, Callum McGregor and even the out-of-favour Nir Bitton ahead of him in the pecking order.
Kouassi Eboue is yet to make an impression at Celtic
Therefore the addition of another dynamic, tenacious midfielder in Ntcham threatens to push him further down the pecking order.
Is Eboue’s place already at risk at Celtic?
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