Will Musonda be growing frustrated with lack of action at Celtic?

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Chelsea loanee Charly Musonda arrived in Glasgow in January with much promise but has only featured fleetingly so far.

When Charly Musonda signed for Celtic on an 18-month loan in January, it felt like the Hoops had pulled off one of the coups of the season.

Musonda, 21, is a massive talent and regarded by many as one of the brightest prospects in European football, with the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea also battling it out for the talent during his youth career.

Since signing for Chelsea aged 16, the Belgian youngster has made seven senior appearances, scoring one goal, and spent the last couple of seasons on loan at Real Betis where he gained some decent experience in Spain’s top flight.

Having signed for Celtic in January, there is no doubt that the 21-year-old will have been expecting to be a key component in Brendan Rodgers side, yet he has only made three league appearances so far.

The Belgium under-21 international faces some stiff competition in the likes of Stuart Armstrong, Tom Rogic, James Forrest, Patrick Roberts and Scott Sinclair, who are all vying for the three positions behind the striker in Celtic’s usual 4-2-3-1 formation.

There is no doubt that Musonda has looked a bright spark on his limited Celtic outings, bagging the crucial assist that earned his side the win against Zenit St Petersburg at home in the Europe League. However, after such a promising start, Musonda has barely featured.

Perhaps Rodgers is trying to ease the youngster in and has greater plans for him next season, with the loan deal lasting 18 months. However, the youngster’s frustrations will surely be growing.

His lack of game time under Antonio Conte at Stamford Bridge led him to temporarily part ways with Chelsea in search of a loan deal, like so many Blues youngsters before him, and he would have expected to have played a bigger role than he has so far in Glasgow.

However, with this being said, the young attacker still has plenty of time to make his mark in Celtic colours and could finish the season as a double trophy winner, with the league all but wrapped up and the Scottish Cup semi-final against Rangers on the horizon.