Celtic man Nir Bitton may now be considered as more of a defender than a midfielder.
The Israeli international has featured in 11 Hoops matches so far this season with his most recent display, in the win over Rangers, perhaps his best of the lot. The 27-year-old dealt with the threat of the Gers attack and looked assured at the heart of the defence beside Christopher Jullien.
In fact, the level of his display, added to the one in Sweden a few days earlier, has convinced many fans that he may be one of the best centre-backs at the club.
Is it too late for Bitton to be converted into a central-defender
Bitton’s teammate Kristoffer Ajer joined Celtic as a midfielder in 2016. Brendan Rodgers soon decided that the Norwegian was more of a central-defender, and since then he has become a regular in the position for club and country.
Bitton is several years older than Ajer was but the transformation in the latter’s game just shows that change is possible.
Celtic aren’t exactly blessed for central-defensive options at present. Ajer and Jullien are both solid, but Jozo Simunovic’s injury troubles make him unreliable while Jack Hendry isn’t even in the picture.
Bitton’s international teammate Hatem Abd Elhamed can fill in at centre-back but other than that, there’s not too much competition for the Israeli.
Given our lack of options in the specialist area, we could see Bitton playing the position more and more as the season goes on.
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