Nir Bitton has been turned into a centre-back by Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers – but the Hoops are starting to bring in natural defenders.
You have got to hand it to Celtic. They know what they want, in this case a centre-back, and they have gone out and grabbed it.
According to the Scottish Sun, RB Leipzig’s classy centre-half Marvin Compper is set to move to Parkhead for around £1 million in the January transfer window. And while the German may seem like a short-term solution at the age of 32, Celtic are thinking long-term too.
The Herald Scotland has stated that Celtic are closing in on the signing of 22-year-old Dundee talent Jack Hendry, a modern centre-half compared to John Stones who Brendan Rodgers described as ‘excellent’ back in October. Hendry will likely stay at Dundee until the end of the season and move to Celtic in the summer.
But while the leaders appear to be aceing the transfer window, there is one player in Rodgers’ squad who may be a little concerned by all this activity.
After all, would Nir Bitton have played at all for Celtic this season if it wasn’t for a defensive injury crisis? A midfielder by trade, the Israeli international looked to be on his way out of Parkhead after struggling for opportunities in the centre of the field last season.
But with Erik Sviatchenko and Dedryck Boyata on the sidelines at the start of 2017/18, Rodgers introduced Bitton back into the first-team fold and moulded him into a centre-half – which is where he has stayed ever since.
He was only ever going to be a stop-gap, however, and with Compper and Hendry coming in it seems that Bitton’s services may no longer be required.
With plenty of options ahead of him in midfield, Bitton could be about to lose his place in the back four, too.
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