‘Hold my hand up’ – Chris Sutton admits star who left Celtic in the summer made him eat humble pie

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Celtic have let more players leave than sign this summer.

10 have departed the Hoops permanently, with the most expensive exits being Nicolas Kuhn to Como for £16.5m and Gustaf Lagerbielke to Braga for £2.2m.

Many will argue Kuhn will be Celtic’s biggest miss this season, particularly given his 21 goals scored across all competitions last campaign.

But it may become evident over this season that Greg Taylor has in fact left the biggest hole in the Celtic team, even if he is replaced.

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Sutton admits Greg Taylor proved him wrong at Celtic

Celtic have Kieran Tierney back at left-back while Marcelo Saraachi is due to sign on loan from Boca Juniors as the Scotland international’s back-up.

But Taylor’s quality as an inverted full-back was unique, and it’s not a style Tierney or Saraachi are naturally adept at.

On the latest The Warm-Up podcast by the SPFL, Steven Naismith put this to Chris Sutton by asking the Celtic hero if we’re starting to see the hole Taylor has left behind.

Sutton then went on to say he wasn’t sure about Taylor’s ability upon signing for the Hoops in 2019 from Kilmarnock, but it’s clear the left-back proved him wrong.

Naismith: “Do you think with Celtic, Greg Taylor, you’re seeing now how big an impact he did have?”

Sutton: “I don’t think we’re seeing that now, I think we saw it, I think we saw it before. And look, when Greg first signed for Celtic, I said on many occasions I wasn’t quite sure.

“But he’s one I’d hold my hand up and say, well, the impact he made and the way he played in that midfield role.

“I always feel, at the very top level, it’s never easy judging a full-back. But you find out at the highest level – Champions League, 1v1 situations when you’re exposed – how good a defender Greg was.

“And he struggled at times, but overall he was a phenomenal player for Celtic. And when you look at the games where Tierney comes off, Celtic are missing that real quality.”

How is Taylor faring with PAOK?

After 218 appearances for Celtic, Taylor decided not to renew his contract and take a leap of faith by signing for Greek side PAOK.

Taylor played just two minutes of Europa League qualifying against Wolfsberger AC across two legs, and was left on the bench versus HNK Rijeka.

He could feature tonight (Thursday) in the second leg with PAOK 1-0 down to the Croatians. However, he played the full 90 minutes on his league debut for PAOK as they beat AE Larisa 1-0.