Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers claims that James Forrest is still his speediest winger – even challenging Daizen Maeda.
James Forrest is still impressing with his speed in Celtic training tests despite now being 32.
That is according to Brendan Rodgers, who has been speaking to The Herald about his options out wide.
The Bhoys lost Jota over the summer as he made a rather ill-fated move to Saudi Arabian side Al Ittihad.
Sead Haksabanovic left the club too, with Celtic bringing in a host of wide options such as Marco Tilio, Yang Hyun-jun and Luis Palma.
James Forrest showing his speed in Celtic training
Despite the changes, it’s a long-serving player who is still the quickest in Brendan Rodgers’ training sessions.
James Forrest has been a mainstay for a long time now, having made his first-team debut for Celtic more than 13 years ago.
Forrest hasn’t quite been as important for Celtic in recent years, and he has only played 187 minutes of league action this season.
Forrest turned 32 over the summer and it may well be that Celtic phase him out in the coming months.
Rodgers is still impressed with his pace though, having tested the speeds of the Celtic squad recently – and Forrest was Celtic’s quickest winger.
Rodgers noted that some might not believe it but Forrest is still as fast as Daizen Maeda, even if he can’t show it as regularly.
Forrest came off the bench against Hibernian at the weekend and Rodgers was happy with his display, suggesting that we could see more of him moving forward.
“I have James Forrest who is 32 but he’s our quickest winger still,” said Rodgers. “We did tests the other week and he’s still my quickest winger. He’s up there with Daizen Maeda, believe it or not in terms of sheer speed. He might not be able to do it as much, or for prolonged periods of the game. But his actual football is still outstanding – and he can come in and impact the game.”
“I think every game he’s had he’s been able to do that, whether he’s started or come off the bench. He could arguably have got the winner for us at the weekend. Listen, we understand the modern world and the want for shiny new things. But I’m not going to throw guys to the garbage who I know are still very, very good players and who can make an impact for us. And James came in and did really well,” he added.
Celtic may offload some wingers in January
Celtic took the strategy of throwing enough darts at the board to, hopefully, find a Jota replacement in the summer.
Yang and Tilio are clearly signings for the future but are yet to really make an impact and Celtic may well loan them out in January.
Then there is Mikey Johnston, who may need a totally fresh start away from Celtic in search of regular first-team football.
That may give Forrest a path to more action with Celtic no doubt weighing up some January departures to trim Rodgers’ squad.
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