Israel manager Alon Hazan has offered a potential reason for Liel Abada’s lack of game time at Celtic.
Abada has been a bit part player under Ange Postecoglou lately, starting just one of Celtic’s last five matches.
In total, he’s started 16 of our 38 matches this season. (Transfermarkt)
Yet, pretty surprisingly, nobody has made more total appearances than Abada during the campaign.
He’s played a part in 37 of our fixtures, missing out only on the away clash to RB Leipzig for religious reasons.
However, his national boss Hazan believes he could be featuring more, and has offered an intriguing theory.
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As reported by The Herald, he said: “Liel Abada plays in a team that are the champions of Scotland and at least he is in the rotation of the squad.
“It’s not as if he has disappeared or does not get on from the bench. And his numbers are good too.
“He may not be playing as much as last season, but he is still playing.
“Maybe his situation is because he didn’t want to extend his contract, but he is still in the squad and being rotated.”
Abada signed a five-year deal when he joined for the club 18 months ago, meaning that he is not out of contract until the summer of 2026.
In December, we told you that contract talks had been planned, but as of yet there is no positive news to report.
As we have found out with both Giorgos Giakoumakis and Josip Juranovic, if you fancy a move away from Celtic, Ange Postecoglou won’t stand in your way.
Of course, there is no real suggestion of that with Abada at this stage. The winger can still achieve great things at Celtic and with his country.
Let’s hope he realises that potential.