The Celtic fans may well still be lamenting the loss of Jota this summer. The Portuguese winger was a huge fan favourite over his two years at the club but finally ended his brief, but successful, stay in Glasgow with a move to Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia.
Jota’s trickery on the wing will be missed but if you listen to Hibs striker, Martin Boyle, it seems that Celtic may already have signed a player who could be just as good as the Portuguese wizard.
Whilst defending Jota’s decision to move to the Saudi League, Boyle talked up Brendan Rodgers’ second summer signing, Marco Tilio and it sounds like we may already have a player who can light up the wing just as our former Portuguese idol did.
Boyle said [Daily Record], “Marco’s a great guy. I get on well with him. It was spoken about that he would replace me in the Australia squad before we flew out. That was fine, I knew we had to have a replacement at hand.
“There probably wouldn’t have been anyone better in that situation. He’s been in a lot of Socceroos camps, I don’t think he’s quite made the impact he would have liked. He’s had limited opportunities.
“But he’s played for the Olyroos (Under-23s) and done well. He’s been excellent for Melbourne City and deserves his move. I’m sure he will showcase his talents.
“He’s tiny .. smaller than me! But his stature, physicality and that… you would never be able to tell if he is right or left-footed. He has natural ability and if he’s given the opportunity, I’m sure he’ll do well.
“He’s good at going by people, has a low centre of gravity and gets out of situations, has quick feet, plays one-twos and if you’ve seen some of his goals, he never seems to score tap-ins. He has the ability to score really good goals.”
Now, I am well aware that we shouldn’t place too much pressure on the youngster’s shoulders but these comments do bode well for the season ahead.
Celtic fans love a player that is not afraid to take on defenders, entertain and score goals and Tilio certainly seems like a player who can do that.
At just 21 years old, Tilio already has 21 goals and 20 assists in just 88 first-team appearances in his career so far. Very impressive stats that will make the Celtic fans look forward to seeing what he can bring to Paradise when the season kicks off next month.
In other news, Why Brendan Rodgers must offer a new Celtic deal to 25-year-old international
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