Celtic were seemingly very determined to make sure that none of the club’s most important players were sold during the recent transfer window.
Perhaps the most noticeable example of that took place on the last day of the transfer window. RMC Sport writer Loic Tanzi reported on Twitter that both Bordeaux and Brest tried to take Olivier Ntcham on loan, but Celtic refused to do the deal.
The fact that Celtic were so determined to keep hold of Ntcham should be a boost for the player. The Hoops could easily have looked to balance the books in the transfer window by selling one of the club’s more important players.
Hoops boss determined to keep team together
However, until January at least, Celtic boss Neil Lennon wants to keep the current Hoops side together. You can’t really blame the Hoops boss for that. After all, the current Celtic side is the most successful domestic one in the club’s history.
As for Ntcham, he has been a regular for the team this season despite not always being at his very best. That shows how much faith that Neil Lennon has in the player. That faith has also been shown in Celtic’s determination to keep hold of Ntcham.
Has dominated derbies in the past
It will be interesting to see if Ntcham gets the nod to start for Celtic against Rangers next Saturday. In the past he has dominated games against the Ibrox side when he has been at his best. You only need to look at his performance and goal in the 1-0 win at Celtic Park in 2018.
At times though, he hasn’t played that well against them, and has been a shadow of the player we all know that he can be.
Still, Neil Lennon will be the man to make that decision. At least Ntcham knows that he is a valuable member of the Hoops squad going forward.
That will hopefully give him the confidence to dominate the Glasgow derby like he has done before.
In other news, Chris Sutton has called on Leigh Griffiths to pay Celtic back after missing the start of the season.
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