Journalist claims Celtic signing is already better than Bhoys ace, but there’s a potential issue

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Celtic have added Ismaila Soro to their midfield options.

Celtic snapped up Ismaila Soro in January, continuing their tendency to look towards the Israeli market for reinforcements.

The Bhoys have had an extended history in the Israeli market, largely driven by Neil Lennon’s strong relationship with agent Dudu Dahan.

Efe Ambrose, Rami Gershon, Nir Bitton and Beram Kayal all joined Celtic in Lennon’s first spell as Celtic boss whilst being represented by Dahan, before Hatem Abd Elhamed joined last summer.

Lennon even signed Dahan client Ofir Marciano at Hibernian, so seeing him sign another one in Soro isn’t remotely a surprise.

Soro arrives having earned some rather lofty comparisons to N’Golo Kante, mostly because he’s a diminutive, all-action midfielder, but he’ll have to go some way to even be half as good as the Chelsea star.

The Ivorian will hope for more success than compatriots Eboue Kouassi and Vakoun Issouf Bayo at Celtic, and one Israeli journalist has given Celtic plenty of reason to be excited.

Nir Tsadok of newspaper Haaretz has spoken to the Scottish Daily Mail (02/02, p121) about Soro, and claims that he is already better than Celtic man Bitton, and did more in Israeli football than Bitton did.

Tsadok praised Soro for controlling the midfield and moving possession quickly, but noted that he has had a problem in Israel, exhibiting some disciplinary issues in terms of red cards – something Celtic may need to be way of moving forward, as they won’t want that becoming a long-standing problem.

“Soro is one of the best central midfielders in Israel,” said Tsadok. “He has been playing to a much better standard than Efe Ambrose was at Ashdod. If Ambrose could move to Celtic and be a success, then I have to say that Soro is at a more developed stage of his career. It’s very interest. Soro is also a better player than Bitton. He has done more than Bitton had before he left Israel.”

“He is really good at moving the ball quickly. He controls the midfield almost on his own – and that’s with a team that is not used to having a lot of possession. Soro is a strong player but not tall. He has had some issues with red cards, maybe two to three per season. He has a temper, but I think any of the big clubs in Israel would love to have had him,” he added.