Celtic’s Lewis Morgan must look for yet another January move

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Lewis Morgan’s future at Parkhead could still be one that shines brightly, but it will surely have to arrive via another loan move.

Morgan initially managed to impress supporters in the early stages of the campaign. In his first outing of the season, he set up Scott Sinclair in Sarajevo with a terrific cross to the back-post. He then followed that up with a man-of-the-match performance against Rennes at Celtic Park (granted, it was a friendly).

Neil Lennon certainly gave him his early-season opportunities to impress. He managed to appear in all six Champions League qualification matches, then played in both of our Europa League playoff legs against AIK. Those came from the bench, as he managed his first goal against the Swedes.

Everyone was loving the energy Morgan was providing over the course of July and August. However, fast forward three months and things are nowhere near what they once were.

Both Mohamed Elyounoussi and Mikey Johnston have soared beyond Morgan in the pecking order. His closest competition just now is Scott Sinclair – a player who still carries much more pedigree than the former St Mirren man.

Morgan’s stats recently don’t read well

And in a damning statistic, Morgan has failed to be a part of the matchday squad on seven occasions out of 11 Premiership matches. He’s played just 98 minutes of Premiership football, with 90 coming in the one game at Motherwell back in August. He did manage another 90 in the Betfred Cup quarter-final against Partick, but failed to impress.

It was no surprise to see him dismissed from the squad once again against Hibernian yesterday. There are now several better players ahead of him in the pecking order.

But there’s also no denying that Morgan has talent. When he’s in the mood, he’s as direct and energetic as anyone. The problem is he’s struggling to show that in his brief Celtic outings, and won’t get many more opportunities by the look of things.

Therefore, it all surely has to point towards a January move for Morgan. He’s still only 23-years of age – he needs to play football regularly to discover his full potential.

Leaving Celtic temporarily, just like he did last season when he moved to Sunderland, would be the best thing for him. So far, however, there has been no speculation over his future from the media.

But he did impress with the League One side last season – making two Wembley finals in the process. There will most certainly be admirers if Celtic want to put him up for another temporary departure.

He likely won’t make an impact here. Therefore, it’s crucial that he continues to develop and get some confidence back into his game. Hopefully, a move this January works out – we all know it makes sense for all parties.