Everything and anything is going wrong at Celtic right now.
On top of Wilfried Nancy losing his first three games in charge, he also has to deal with a depleted Celtic squad that has produced many abject performances this season.
During Celtic’s League Cup final defeat to St Mirren on Sunday, Kelechi Iheanacho could only last around half an hour after pulling another hamstring.
It’s another body blow for Celtic, because in the game in itself, Iheanacho was proving to be his side’s best performer, but everything that has surrounded the player since he joined was discussed on PLZ Soccer.
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Kelechi Iheanacho has been a ‘panic buy’ at Celtic
The PLZ panel were in agreement that Iheanacho, who arrived just after the 2025 summer transfer window slammed shut, was a ‘panic buy’ by Celtic.
But Peter Martin and Tam McManus also wanted to discuss how the Hoops have used him since he put on the green and white colours.
Martin thinks the Nigerian international ‘isn’t fit’, and has proceeded to ‘pull his hamstring twice’, whilst McManus stated that Celtic have ‘battered’ him from a fitness standpoint ever since he arrived.
This is despite Iheanacho hardly playing during the past 12 months, including having no pre-season because Sevilla had terminated his contract.
Martin: “Iheanacho does have good movement. Can hold the ball up. Can bring people in. Can create chances and get on the end of them as well.
“But he isn’t fit. It’s a panic buy. He has pulled his hamstring twice. He was out of the game, and they had to bring on Johnny Kenny. The game was up. That’s down to Celtic waiting in August, and then bringing in a player who wasn’t up to match fitness.
“That’s what you get with it. You get two hamstring pulls from him.”
McManus: “What they have done is, he wasn’t playing for Sevilla. They got him in the last minute. They have panicked. They have got him in. Battered him in the two weeks before he started playing, fitness-wise, to get him up to speed.
“Now he’s paying the price for that, for getting rushed. He has pulled his hamstring. Rushed back into the team for the weekend because they have nobody else, and now he has done it again. When he is fit, he looks like a good signing and a good player. But you can’t rely on him.”
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Iheanacho’s numbers for Celtic
From what Iheanacho has produced during his little time on the pitch, you can’t argue that it has been positive and encouraging.
But he is just another player who has summed up the mess the Celtic board have put this squad in, and what Nancy has to work with.
There is no doubt that Celtic need a striker in January, but this is how Iheanacho’s numbers look on paper:
- Premiership games: 4
- Goals: 2
- Assists: –
- Total minutes: 254
- WhoScored rating: 6.70
- Europa League games: 4
- Goals: 1
- Assists: –
- Total minutes: 184
- WhoScored rating: 6.12
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