Celtic loanee Moritz Bauer doesn’t appear to have much future at his parent club.
If they want him, it looks like Celtic can probably keep Moritz Bauer in Glasgow for the long term.
Hoops boss Neil Lennon brought the Austrian right-back to Parkhead on a season-long loan from Stoke City in the Championship this past summer.
And the 27-year-old has been a decent recruit for Celtic, clocking eight appearances across all competitions.
It remains to be seen whether Lennon wants – or even needs – Bauer on a long-term basis, with Jeremie Frimpong establishing himself as potentially the most exciting right-back in the country.
But it would appear as if there’ll be little opposition from Stoke if Celtic try to sign him on a permanent basis.
That’s because Potters boss Michael O’Neill has dropped a very big hint that he doesn’t have a future with the English club.
Speaking to The Stoke Sentinel, O’Neill said: “There’s different types of loans. Harry Souttar’s and [Thibaud] Verlinden’s loans are very different from [Kevin] Wimmer’s and Bauer’s loans.
“Players on loan from a development point of view we have to watch very closely because we believe they have an awful lot to offer the football club. But players out on loan for other reasons, possibly their future lies away from the club and we have to focus on those we believe have a future at the club.”
City paid £5 million in signing Bauer almost two years ago [The Daily Mail] but will Celtic keep him? Potentially not.
As well as Frimpong, Lennon also has Hatem Elhamed as a right-back option and Bauer might be third choice for that position at this stage, which means that the Hoops boss probably doesn’t need to spend millions on keeping a squad player in Scotland.
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