Charlton Athletic winger and Celtic target Alfie Doughty has posted a positive tweet remaining upbeat despite news of his long-term injury.
Charlton boss Lee Bowyer spoke to BBC and London News Online journalist Louis Mendez at the end of the week and told him that Doughty had suffered a “big, big tear” on his hamstring. The player is apparently going to need an operation, and is likely to be out for around four months.
Doughty picked up the injury during a game against Northampton Town last week, where he failed to re-emerge for the second half. The diagnosis provided by Bowyer to Mendez means that the player could be out until the end of February/beginning of March.
But even so, Doughty doesn’t appear to be overly-deflated by the news. Whilst it will undoubtedly be a big blow for the player, he was keen to portray a positive figure on social media over the weekend.
Celtic were constantly linked with a move for Doughty over the summer, and even had several offers rejected for the player’s services. Charlton boss Bowyer had become frustrated towards the end of the window, claiming that clubs were “taking liberties” with their offers for his star players (The Herald).
Since then, the Hoops have been linked by the Glasgow Times with a move for him on a pre-contract agreement in January. Doughty is into the final year of his Charlton contract, and is, therefore, free to speak to clubs from the start of 2021.
A lengthy lay-off, but how does this affect Celtic?
However, it remains to be seen whether his injury will affect Celtic’s stance on the matter. Despite the fact Doughty has been a regular for the League One side this term, a bad hamstring tear may throw any move to Parkhead into doubt.
How he recovers will be key, and considering he’s only 20 years of age, there is plenty of time for him to get himself back on track.
What is promising is his attitude towards it all. He seems to have the bit between his teeth when it comes to getting himself back to full fitness. Calling a hamstring tear a “little bump in the road” is a sign of his positivity.
But it may take more than that for Celtic to make a move in January now. There is, of course, no risk attached you could say. Doughty would be a free agent, and therefore if he does move to Parkhead and doesn’t make it then we won’t have lost anything substantial on it.
However, it would’ve been ideal to get a better look at him in the run-up to January and see if he could’ve added to his numbers. So far this term, Doughty has one goal and one assist in nine competitive matches (Transfermarkt). They aren’t jaw-dropping figures, but it’s clear how highly Charlton rate him regardless.
We’ll see whether this affects our own interest in him. But in the meantime, Doughty’s only focus should be on getting himself back into first-team action at Charlton once again.
In other news, Neil Lennon believes one of his players has played too much football recently as he disclosed his discomfort on the plane back from France.
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