Celtic midfielder is off to a disappointing start.
Celtic midfielder Youssouf Mulumbu’s career at the club got off to one of the worst possible starts at the weekend.
He was in the team as Celtic suffered a rare defeat, and lost against his former club Kilmarnock, who he chose not to rejoin in the summer.
A bit of rustiness is to be expected from the former West Brom and Norwich midfielder.
After sitting the summer out as a free agent and missing pre-season, it could take Mulumbu a month or more to regain his best form.
While end of the season could see Mulumbu sitting pretty with a title winner’s medal, there is lots of work to do to get to that point.
His task has been made a little bit harder by the form of John McGinn at Aston Villa.
McGinn was Brendan Rodgers’ first choice, and the fans know it.
Much to Rodgers’ frustration, the board could not close a deal with Hibernian, and McGinn signed for Villa for just £2.75 million.
McGinn has made an immediate impact at Villa, shunting star man Jack Grealish out of central midfield and out onto the wing, and establishing himself as a regular.
He scored a tremendous volley at the weekend which would grace any goal of the month competition at any point in time.
This has made him hard to ignore, and while he keeps on attracting headlines, the pressure increases on Mulumbu to prove himself to Celtic supporters as an acceptable alternative.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
