The Stuart Armstrong rumours will hopefully pick up the closer we get to January, and hopefully they all state that he’s on Neil Lennon’s radar.
The former Dundee United midfielder has endured a quite simply horrendous start to the season at St Mary’s. He may have made seven appearances this season for them, and all of them may also have come in the Premier League. But they’ve all been cameo sub appearances.
In only two of those seven appearances has Armstrong been given 20 minutes or more. The total number of minutes he’s played this season? 85. A damning number for such a talented midfielder.
His latest cameo came in the final 20 minutes against Leicester City on Friday night. It’s fair to say he looked deflated and unhappy in his current predicament. Sure, he was never going to come on in that game full of smiles and joking with his teammates. But there was something about Armstrong’s demeanour that suggests something’s not right.
Meanwhile, Armstrong will have watched on just 24 hours previously to see his old team, Celtic, overcome Serie A big-hitters Lazio. In European football no less. That’s the same Celtic Armstrong decided to leave in order to test himself in the Premier League.
A failed experiment for Stu – time to come back up the road?
Some fans won’t be totally for this idea. When players leave Parkhead to test themselves in England, there is a section in our fan-base that doesn’t want them back.
You can understand that too, but Armstrong would offer Celtic something we sadly lack – strength in depth.
That’s something some may chuckle at. But just think about it for a second – do we really have quality to replace Scott Brown and Callum McGregor? Outside of Olivier Ntcham, we don’t have a real top quality central-midfielder. Bringing in Armstrong would perhaps give Neil Lennon the freedom to rotate a bit more.
Below Ntcham, we have the likes of Nir Bitton, Eboue Kouassi, and Luca Connell respectively. Bitton has proven himself to be reliable, but Armstrong would play the McGregor role much more suitably than he could.
At a time when Armstrong is hardly getting a look-in, now would be a good time for Lenny to prepare a January bid.
Of course, would Saints be happy to take a loss on him? There’s no way Celtic splash out anywhere near the £7m they paid for him in the first place (BBC). It’s all about whether Southampton still see value in him. But considering he’s only played 39 times and scored four goals for them, that could be up for debate.
Asking the question wouldn’t hurt Celtic chiefs. Armstrong is out there and waiting to be plucked. There’s no denying he would improve our midfield options, so it’s time to go out and ask the question of Southampton.
It also may not be a priority position to strengthen, but we’re nowhere near as strong at CM as some may think.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
