Tosin Adarabioyo’s Manchester City omission suggests he missed perfect Celtic opportunity

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Tosin Adarabioyo would surely have featured far more regularly at Celtic than he has done at Manchester City.

Few expected Tosin Adarabioyo to still be a Manchester City player in 2017/18. Especially when the highly-rated young centre-back appeared unwilling to sign a new contract at The Etihad due to his lack of opportunities under Pep Guardiola.

And the Scottish Sun reported that Celtic were eyeing up a cut-price swoop for Adarabioyo, who would have been available for as little as a six-figure compensation fee.

Celtic certainly have history when it comes to helping City’s best and brightest realise their potential. Jason Denayer (below) won Scotland’s Young Player of the Year award during a loan spell at Parkhead in 2014/15.

Furthermore, Patrick Roberts returned from an 18-month loan at Celtic a much more mature, efficient player with two Scottish Premiership titles on his CV.

Opportunity missed?

And there’s every reason to believe Adarabioyo could have developed in a similar vein under Brendan Rodgers, a manager renowned for getting the best out of young players.Especially now that Celtic are a little light at the back following injuries to Dedryck Boyata and Erik Sviatchenko, coupled with the loss of Kolo Toure at the end of last season.

There’s every chance Adarabioyo, one of England’s most talented young defenders, could have formed a regular partnership with Jozo Simunovic, honing a winning mentality in the league while gaining valuable European experience.

Instead, however, Adarabioyo performed a surprise U-turn and signed a lucrative four-year contract worth an initial £25,000 a week at City, per The Telegraph.

He has since failed to feature in any of City’s games so far this season with even the unwanted Eliaquim Mangala picked on the bench ahead of him. Suddenly Celtic looks like a real opportunity missed.