Celtic interim boss John Kennedy has revealed that he’s spoken to Albian Ajeti after leaving the Swiss forward out of his matchday squad on Sunday.
Despite costing the club £5million from West Ham in the summer [Sky Sports], Ajeti has offered little in return. He only has six goals to his name and hasn’t started a match since February’s 1-0 win over Aberdeen.
At the very least, Albian had been a part of every matchday squad since the turn of the year when he’s been available. That run ended on Sunday against Rangers, as he was nowhere to be seen despite training towards the end of last week.
Kennedy has finally come out and explained why that was the case. Thankfully for Celtic fans, it doesn’t look too troubling.
As quoted by the Scotsman, Kennedy said: “We had so many fit players and everyone wanted to be involved. Three strikers on the bench for the game wasn’t quite right.
“I spoke to Albian and addressed it so there’s no drama. Every game is different. We needed a balance on the bench but it’s fine.”
A bad look for Albian Ajeti
This can’t be dressed up – this is simply a bad look for Ajeti.
This is Kennedy effectively informing him that he’s the fourth-choice striker in a campaign when he was signed to be, at least, the second-choice. Not being entrusted to play any part against Rangers shows where he’s at just now.
And that’s not to say it isn’t justified either. Ajeti has had his opportunities this season. Throughout the entire campaign, the Swiss forward has featured on 27 occasions. It’s not as if he’s being frozen out despite not being given a chance to impress the Celtic supporters.
Even so, he needs to effectively put this campaign behind us. He’s still on a long-term contract so questions on his future are irrelevant. He’ll be here next season, and he really has to press the reset button ahead of the new manager coming in the door.
A few goals towards the end of the season, if he gets the game-time, would help. But at this point it looks safe to say the campaign is a write-off.
Ajeti is about to go through a major test of character. Let’s see if he passes it.
In other news, a report has outlined when we can expect Scott Brown to depart Celtic.
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