Olivier Ntcham is officially a fringe player at Celtic these days.
Neil Lennon’s team selection today confirmed something: Olivier Ntcham isn’t a big player for Celtic anymore.
Ntcham, a £4.5 million signing in 2017 [The Daily Mail], took his place in a second-string first XI this afternoon as Celtic rounded off their Premiership season with a visit of Hearts.
The French midfielder shared a pitch with the likes of Oliver Burke, Mikey Johnston, Ewan Henderson, Nir Bitton and Anthony Ralston.
Lennon clearly has one eye on next week’s Scottish Cup final against the Jambos at Hampden and you could forgive Ntcham if he didn’t want the Northern Irishman hired on a permanent basis this summer.
The 23-year-old has become a fringe player since Lennon replaced Brendan Rodgers in February. For whatever reason, the former Hibernian boss doesn’t rate Ntcham as highly as Rodgers did.
If Lennon beats Hearts to complete the Treble Treble next week then there’s a chance he’ll be considered for the long-term manager’s job.
And based on what we’ve seen over the past three months, Lennon being there on a full-time basis may indicate to Ntcham that his future lies away from Parkhead.
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