‘Baffling’ was the word Celtic icon Chris Sutton used.
Why, he wondered, had August arrived without the Scottish Premiership giants bringing in a new left-back? Why had five months passed since Alexandro Bernabei’s departure to Internacional without Celtic landing a replacement?
It’s certainly a good question. One many an increasingly vocal Celtic support have asked themselves in recent times, protests against an increasingly unpopular board becoming a common occurrence of late.
Well, better late than never, as they say.
Because Celtic are finally set to fill that Bernabei-shaped hole with a loan deal for Barcelona starlet Alex Valle.
Left out of the squad for Barca’s La Liga clash with Rayo Vallecano on Tuesday night, the Spain Under 20 international is expected to undergo a medical ahead of his move to Scotland before the window closes this week, per Mundo Deportivo.
Though if Barcelona expect that Valle will be starting games week-in, week-out under Brendan Rodgers, they may be disappointed.
Celtic will give Greg Taylor some much-needed competition
Greg Taylor might not be the most glamorous or technically gifted member of the Celtic squad but the long-serving left-back is one of the first names on Rodgers’ team sheet – as he was under predecessor Ange Postecoglou – for a very good reason.
What Taylor lacks in star power, he makes up for with his consistency, his tactical intelligence, his dogged defensive output, and a crossing ability which often goes under the radar.
Kris Boyd, the legendary Rangers striker, worked with a young Taylor at Kilmarnock prior to his £3 million move to Parkhead in the summer of 2019. And he feels that the four-time Premiership champion is long overdue his moment in the spotlight.
“The left-back area is something the fans have wanted to strengthen,” Boyd tells the Scottish Sun. “(But) I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I have been very vocal on it for months, years maybe – I do think Greg Taylor gets a rough ride from a lot of Celtic fans.
“I’ve worked with him. I know what kind of character he is from training with him every day, what he gives you.”
Boyd does feel as if the tide is starting to turn, Taylor’s excellent 2023/24 campaign silencing many of his critics. In 46 games, he scored three goals and set up five more.
Boyd also believes there was an obvious difference dip in quality whenever Bernabei replaced Taylor in the XI, the former lacking the latter’s composure on the ball and his reliability at the back.
“He’s one of those ones who, until he’s not there (you’d don’t realise how good he is),” Boyd adds. “But there’s no doubt he does need competition.
“The loan kind of deal might suit in that area.”
Alex Valle set to join the Hoops from Barcelona
Taylor has played 345 of a possible 360 minutes for Celtic in all competitions this season.
European football and two domestic cup competitions mean there should be plenty of chances for Valle to make his mark, however.
As for Taylor’s contract situation, there is yet to be any confirmation as to whether a new deal will be handed to a man who is due to become a free-agent in less than 12 months time.
Rodgers insists that he has no plans to let the long-serving wideman leave for nothing though with Taylor still a massive part of his plans and of Celtic’s recent success.
“Keeping players is as important as bringing players in. We want to improve the squad but I don’t really want players going into that last year where possible,” Rodgers told the Scottish Sun in July. “I’ve said all along that I really want him to stay.
“I can’t guarantee any player they’re going to play every single game. What I want to build is a strong squad with competition. At this moment, Greg doesn’t have that and we want to bring that into the squad.
“But there’s no doubt I’ve really enjoyed working with him. He’s a fantastic player. He’s someone that we would want to tie down for the longer term. So hopefully between the club and Greg’s agent we can do that.”
“It’s clear we want to keep him. I’m hopeful that we can get a deal done because he’s a very important player for us.”
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