Chris Sutton has suggested that Celtic midfielder Olivier Ntcham could be a ‘massive asset’ for the club this summer despite his career being ‘on the drift’.
The Bhoys played a pre-season friendly against Preston North End on Saturday afternoon, and lost 1-0 to a Ben Whiteman penalty.
A pre-season defeat to a more than decent Championship side shouldn’t be a huge concern, but Celtic have a huge Champions League qualifier against Midtjylland coming up on Tuesday.
Ange Postecoglou’s men look well short of what is required right now, and that has resulted in questions about this Bhoys squad.
The Australian may have to try and reintegrate some fringe players, and Olivier Ntcham fits that bill.
The French midfielder spent the second half of last season on loan at Marseille, but is now back at Parkhead.
Many expected him to go this summer. Reports in June suggested that Celtic were ready to cut their losses and let him join AEK Athens.
Pundit Chris Sutton has now told Premier Sports (17/07, 7:25pm) that he thinks Ntcham’s career is ‘on the drift’ and ‘going downhill’.
However, he thinks Ntcham could be a ‘massive asset’ as he needs to save his career this season, believing that he may actually help Postecoglou after all.
“Ntcham is a player who has had so much talent – I can remember him winning man of the match awards against Rangers, big performances in Europe,” said Sutton. “His career is on the drift, his career is going downhill. He may be one of those players who suits Celtic this season, who has to stay at Celtic, guts it out and thinks ‘well actually, I’ve got to perform to save my career’ – so he could be a massive asset,” he added.
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