It’s early days but Celtic seem to have found exactly what they were looking for with Hatem Abd Elhamed.
The Israeli international may only have made two appearances since joining from Hapoel Be’er Sheva last week, but he’s silently gone about his business and impressed on both occasions.
Elhamed has surprised many Celtic fans
The 28-year-old arrived with a bit of a cloud around him. Many Hoops fans felt his signing was an act of desperation from the club who had only Anthony Ralston on their books in the right-back position.
On the subject of position, he was rumoured to be a central-defender and not a right-sided player. What he’s shown in his early displays is that he is very much a modern day right-back.
Elhamed is deceivingly quick given his nature. He’s over 6ft but gets up and down the park really well. He likes to add his presence to attacks and does so effectively, but equally he is rarely caught out of position at the other end. His fellow full-back Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo should take note.
Just like the Belgian, we should reserve full judgement on Elhamed until he has played more games in the hoops. But for now, the signs look really positive. Celtic may have found the perfect replacement for Mikael Lustig.
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