Celtic’s Moritz Bauer has to seize chance after Hatem Abd Elhamed blow

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Moritz Bauer’s Celtic chances have just been given a big boost today with Hatem Abd Elhamed’s injury news.

Elhamed’s agent, Dudu Dahan, confirmed to supporters on Twitter that the Israeli will be out for six weeks. That’s three more than the Daily Record believed was the case last weekend.

That means that he will miss matches such as Rennes and Cluj in the Europa League. He will also miss the Betfred Cup final against Rangers unless he makes a quicker-than-expected return.

But, looking on the bright side, what an opportunity this is for Bauer. The on-loan Stoke City man must’ve thought his Celtic chances were drying up.

So far this season, the Austrian has only made six appearances since joining the club in August. Two of them have come from the bench, leaving him with just four starts to his name. He’s started nine matches as a sub too. (Transfermarkt).

It’s all set up for Bauer

That’s surely less than he expected when he arrived from England. After all, why come up here just to sit on the bench when he can do that at Stoke?

Fortunately for him, Elhamed’s injury should open up some doors for him. Over the course of the next six weeks exactly, Celtic have a total of 10 games. You could also include the 11th at home to Rangers considering it’s highly unlikely Elhamed would be thrown back in for that one.

A couple of months ago, Bauer would’ve been the natural replacement. Jeremie Frimpong’s performances against the likes of Aberdeen and Hibs, however, seem to have rocketed him ahead of the Stoke-owned man.

But for a youngster like Frimpong, he’s not going to play all 10 or 11 games between now and the winter break. Celtic are going to have to give Bauer some runouts. With matches against the likes of Rangers, Hearts, Hibernian, Aberdeen, and the European games still to come, he must be rubbing his hands.

Bauer now has a huge chance to make a real impact at Celtic. A chance that he must’ve felt was starting to get away from him in recent weeks.

Elhamed’s injury is a big blow to everyone. However, Celtic have more than enough talent in reserve to cover appropriately.

Neil Lennon also stated in the Celtic View (Volume 55, Issue 17, Page 06) last month that we would see much more of Bauer. Well, now seems like the perfect chance with just he and Frimpong available to take the reins ahead of the most hectic period of the season.