Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou has discussed what happened with midfielder Ismaila Soro on transfer deadline day.
Soro was linked with a late loan move to Fortuna Sittard. It was stated by Football Scotland that the Dutch club were willing to cover a percentage of his wages, with a potential option to buy at the end of the season.
Sky Sports would then report later that night that an agreement couldn’t be reached between the 2 clubs. Celtic were said to be looking to recoup at least the £2m they bought him for back in January 2020.
And now Ange has given his verdict on what happened as he left the door open for Soro to depart in the coming weeks.
As quoted by the Scotsman, the Celtic boss said: “With guys like Soro it’s about trying to help them and if they get opportunities elsewhere to try and facilitate that.
“There was a complication with Holland because unfortunately, he needed to have a work permit sorted for us to do a deal yesterday. That didn’t happen. But with him and a couple of others there are still markets open and he is training well and available.”
Ismaila Soro Celtic departure still looks on
It’s become clear that Soro no longer has a future at Parkhead. The fact he’s seldom used by Postecoglou of course being the key indicator. But it’s also to do with just how many bodies are currently ahead of him in the pecking order.
It looks as though the Ivorian may actually be Ange’s last-choice central-midfielder when everyone is fit. That’s far too much competition sitting ahead of him in the pecking order.
Indeed, Callum McGregor, David Turnbull, Yosuke Ideguchi, Matt O’Riley, Nir Bitton, and James McCarthy all seem to be placed ahead of Ismaila. At 23 years old, that’s not a situation Soro will want to be in for too long.
But there’s still time for Soro and any other Celtic fringe player to depart. Markets remain open across Europe in places such as Russia, Switzerland, and Austria respectively.
Opportunities are there to be had for those who want to seek a new challenge. And it sounds as though Ange is certainly open to finding a new pathway for Ismaila in the coming weeks.
It’s clear his career needs the refresh button hit on it.
In other news, Celtic midfielder Liam Shaw suffers nasty head injury in second Motherwell start
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