New Celtic signing Diego Laxalt is getting plenty of help from former Genoa teammate Olivier Ntcham in Lennoxtown training, Neil Lennon has told The Celtic View (14/10, page 7).
Mystery still surrounds the deadline day loan acquisition.
He’s yet to be seen in Celtic action and it’s unknown whether or not he’ll be handed a start in the upcoming derby against Rangers.
The manager sounds like a big fan though and given his progress in training, it wouldn’t be a major surprise to see the Uruguayan international on Saturday.
Lennon told The Celtic View (14/10, page 7): “New players coming in and knowing other boys is definitely a plus point.
“With Diego for example, his English isn’t great at the minute, so Olivier will be very important to him. You can even see them talking to each other at training, with Olivier helping to explain to him what the drills are and what the premise of the session is.
“Diego is a good footballer, he settles into that and sees things very quickly.”
Ntcham played with Laxalt in Serie A and it’s great to hear their reunion is already proving fruitful for Lennon and Celtic.
With Laxalt settling in well, there should be nothing holding him back for an early debut.
The best way to counteract Rangers threats such as James Tavernier is to keep him in his own half and Laxalt can help do that, perhaps more effectively than Greg Taylor.
Laxalt is a ball carrier and can dribble well. He’ll also be a surprise package for the Ibrox side.
I’d love to see him line up and make a massive derby debut.
In other news, Manny Perez has been speaking about his unfortunate work permit issues.
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