Jonathan Afalobi vs Vakoun Bayo – an intriguing Celtic battle

Add as preferred source on Google

Jonathan Afolabi’s signing will have gone under the radar yesterday after such a shocking performance at home to Dunfermline.

But the fact still stands that the 19-year-old Irishman has signed a two-year deal at Parkhead. He also arrives after leaving Southampton, where he failed to make a single first-team appearance.

Neil Lennon told the BBC yesterday that the youngster is a “development” signing. Yet he also says he’s on the “cusp” of first-team affairs too.

But, at the same time, we also have another young striker on the bench who seems to be on the cusp of the top-team too. Vakoun Issouf Bayo has only made two Celtic appearances since signing last January. None of them have been starts. A combination of the quality ahead of him and injury worries have managed to restrict him to just two outings.

Bayo was also one of the more disappointing omissions from the Dunfermline match. Despite it being a clear chance to rotate the squad, Lennon didn’t see fit to do so.

And it’s clear now that Bayo can hardly get a game. He’s only come on twice for us, and the second was Tuesday night’s defeat to Cluj in what was a clear desperation sub.

Bayo appears to have his third spot nailed down for now

So what does the signing of Afolabi do for Bayo, a player who can hardly get game-time as it is? Considering Afolabi is now a Lennon signing, the question has to be asked of whether he’ll jump ahead of the Ivorian over the next several weeks.

It seems to be, at the moment, that Lennon isn’t quite sure about where Afolabi fits into the squad. The answer to that seems like it will become clearer in the coming weeks.

But nobody will want Bayo to drop down for Afolabi without getting a proper chance. Considering the systems Lennon has played since arriving back in February, being the fourth-choice striker isn’t an enviable position.

Lenny has been reluctant to pair Odsonne Edouard and Leigh Griffiths. This reluctance has seen Bayo nowhere near contention. Granted, the Ivorian has recently come back from injury, but he didn’t play against Motherwell and now Dunfermline – yesterday being a clash you would’ve fancied him featuring in.

So it may be too early to ask the question of Afolabi vs Bayo. But, at the end of the day, somebody isn’t going to be happy come the end of it.

There are most certainly other priority positions that Celtic need to strengthen in. But the fight for third spot in the striking ranks could be an intriguing one.