Celtic midfielder set to face tricky start to life on loan

By Lewis Laird

August 5, 2022

Celtic midfielder Ismaila Soro is set to face a tricky start to life on loan at Portuguese side FC Arouca as they take on Benfica in the league opener.

The 24-year-old is looking to kick-start his career once again whilst on loan after a disappointing few seasons in Glasgow.

Joining the Hoops in January 2020, Soro showed some promise under former boss Neil Lennon, putting in some solid displays during the 2020/21 campaign.

Upon the arrival of Ange Postecoglou last summer, many Celtic fans were intrigued to see whether the former Bnei Yehuda man could kick on working with the ex-Socceroos boss.

Despite featuring during the early stages of Postecoglou’s tenure as manager, Soro was taken out of the picture, making only a handful of competitive appearances after September.

Coming into this summer’s transfer window, it was expected that the midfielder would be one of the players heading for the exit door as the Celtic manager looked to empty some of the dead wood from his squad.

Last month, Soro completed a loan move with an option to buy a deal, joining Portugesuse side FC Arouca, who finished just above the relegation spots in the Liga Bwin last season.

Later on this evening, Soro and Arouca kick off the 2022/23 campaign, and there aren’t much tougher starts that they could have asked for.

Arouca travel to take on UEFA Champions League group stage hopefuls Benfica, who will be hoping to better their third-place finish from last season.

Difficult start to life in Portugal for Soro

If Soro was hoping for a positive start to life on loan in Portugal, there couldn’t have been many worse games to start off the new season with.

Benfica are coming off the back of an impressive 4-1 victory over FC Midtjylland during the week, as they look to join Ange Postecoglou’s side in the Champions League group stage draw later this month.

Despite facing a very difficult task later on tonight, it takes the pressure off Soro and Arouca to go out and express themselves in tonight’s game.

It should be interesting to see how the midfielder gets on during his temporary spell away this campaign.

Hopefully, he will have kicked the habit of picking up a silly yellow card in the early stages of games, as his new side are going to need him against Benfica!

In other news, New shirt sponsor for Celtic FC Women announced.