How do Celtic view Eboue Kouassi and his spot at Parkhead?

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Celtic midfielder Eboue Kouassi hasn’t been seen on the pitch for over seven months at Parkhead.

The Ivorian damaged his cruciate ligament against Hearts, and that, unfortunately, ruled him out for the season. It came just as he looked to be coming onto a game too, with the Betfred Cup clash against Hearts his fifth outing of the campaign.

But what made the mini-renaissance of Kouassi so impressive was his situation nearly one year ago. Celtic had reportedly told Kouassi he could find another club (Daily Record). That came after a frustrating 18 months at Parkhead where the midfielder failed to make an impact.

What could do with being cleared up is just where the situation now lies with Kouassi.

He looked to be a fine ball-winner during the early part of the season. His performance against Hearts had started well, but that would be just his third and final start of the season.

Whilst Kouassi was out, his midfield competition haven’t exactly breezed past him. Callum McGregor and Scott Brown have of coursed nailed down the two central midfield spots. But outside of that, Kouassi will surely fancy his chances.

Not many have leaped over Kouassi since his injury

Nir Bitton has been struggling with injuries this season, whilst Olivier Ntcham hasn’t been consistent enough to power beyond Kouassi in the pecking order, even if he is still ahead slightly. Outside of that, Youssouf Mulumbu was shafted out to Kilmarnock, meaning that Kouassi should remain firmly in the mix for contention ahead of pre-season.

There have been no further reports of Kouassi leaving this summer. Perhaps his cruciate ligament injury would be enough to put clubs off too.

It should allow the Ivorian to come right back into pre-season and look to impress. He’ll have just as good a chance as anyone as it stands, with only Brown and McGregor surely guaranteed to be ahead of him.

Of course, if Celtic sign David Turnbull (Daily Mail) then it would push Kouassi further down the pecking order. But it doesn’t look as though there are any plans to push him out the door at the moment.

A big pre-season lies ahead for the former Krasnodar midfielder. Consistency and a bit of luck will be needed if he’s to force his way into this Celtic side. But as it stands, at least it doesn’t look as though Celtic are trying to push him out the door again.