Nir Bitton is facing an uncertain future in the Scottish Premiership with Celtic, even if he didn’t leave on transfer deadline day.
Nir Bitton has not made an appearance for Celtic since February, after undergoing surgery on a serious knee injury. But even when he is back to full fitness – and that could be soon according to the Israeli international himself on Instagram – it is difficult to see where he features in Brendan Rodgers’ side.
The 26-year-old has not been one of the first names on the team sheet during Rodgers’ tenure at Parkhead. In fact, during the January 2017 transfer window, the Northern Irishman even indicated to the Times that he would not stand in Bitton’s way if he wanted to leave.
A year and a half later, however, a central midfielder who can also play at centre-back remains at Celtic with the transfer window now closed until January.
But, with the Hoops having signed Youssouf Mulumbu, you wonder whether Bitton could be left in limbo.
After all, Celtic already have Scott Brown, Olivier Ntcham, Tom Rogic and Ryan Christie vying for a midfield role, while Eboue Kouassi will be hoping for a chance after remaining at Parkhead.
Bitton can also play in defence but Celtic signed Filip Benkovic on loan, kept faith with Marvin Compper, and also have Jack Hendry, Jozo Simunovic, Kristoffer Ajer and Dedryck Boyata to pick from.
Bitton, then, has a lot of work to do in order to force his way back into Rodgers’ plans, having been unavailable for most of 2018. Just nine of his 14 league appearances last season came from the start and he could be hard pressed to add to that tally in the months ahead, with plenty of other options at Rodgers’ disposal.
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