Celtic supporters with longer memories than most may recall the name Alfa Semedo.
The Hoops were, according to Portuguese publication A Bola, at the front of the queue to sign the former Benfica enforcer early in the summer of 2022. Ange Postecoglou wanted a powerful, controlling midfielder with Nir Bitton’s contract expiring.
And 25-year-old Semedo, at the time, appeared to fit the bill.
Then at Vitoria Guimaraes, the 6ft 2ins Guinea Bissau international produced impressive ball-winning statistics during the 2021/22 Primeira Liga campaign. He averaged almost two interceptions per game from his deep-lying role (WhoScored). A reliable distributor too, Semedo looked a solid replacement for the similarly rangy, similarly aggressive Bitton.
Celtic reportedly wanted former Nottingham Forest man Alfa Semedo
What’s more, Semedo had a proven track record on UK soil, albeit south of the border in England. He had two loan spells in the Championship, at Nottingham Forest and Reading.
“He is strong, powerful, versatile,” ex-Royals boss Veljko Paunovic said during their time together at the Madejski Stadium. “(Semedo is) comfortable on the ball and full of energy.”
In the end, Postecoglou opted to bring in a player he knew like the back of his hand instead; Aaron Mooy reuniting with his former Australia coach at Parkhead. Semedo would end up changing scenery too. He put pen to paper on a three-year deal with Saudi Arabian outfit Al-Tai one month after Mooy’s return to Scottish soil.
Semedo was Al-Tai’s most expensive summer acquisition at a reported £700,000. The so-called Knights of the North, however, are the very definition of ‘mid-table mediocrity’. With Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr and Nuno Espirito Santo’s Al-Ittihad going head to head at the top of the tree, Al-Tai are almost equidistant between first place and last.
Three-time Saudi Arabian champions, and most recently in 2001, it will clearly take more than Semedo before Al-Tai are dusting the cobwebs of a trophy cabinet who’s doors have barely been touched in two decades.
Mooy, meanwhile, continues to roll back the years at the age of 32. A dark horse, perhaps, for Celtic’s Player of the Year award.
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