Celtic defender, Osaze Urhoghide has returned to the club after his second loan spell at KV Oostende ended with his loan club being relegated to the second tier of Belgian football. [Veotbal Primeur]
The 22-year-old defender enjoyed a rather productive first season at the club where he helped guide them to 12th place in the league.
And although the Juliper League side couldn’t afford to meet his loan-to-buy clause, they did take him back for a second loan spell at the beginning of the 2022/23 season.
However, this season seemed like a step too far for Oostende as they eventually succumbed to relegation after a 4-0 home defeat to OH Leuven.
But for Urhoghide, indiscipline shown by the young defender towards the end of the season meant that he missed three crucial fixtures as Oostende fought to preserve their status in the top flight.
Urhoghide missed the 3-0 defeat to Club Brugge after serving a suspension for collecting too many yellow cards.
But the icing on the cake was when he received an automatic red card against Standard Liege in the 60th minute of a 3-1 home defeat.
That meant Urhoghide missed crucial matches against Sint-Truiden and OH Leuven which Oostende lost heavily 5-0 and 4-0 respectively. [Transfermarkt]
Of course, the Celtic defender’s indiscipline is in no way the sole contributory factor in Oostende’s eventual relegation. But having a key central defensive figure missing at such an important part of the season certainly does not help. Especially when one point was the difference between safety and relegation. [Soccerway]
So what now for Urhoghide? Even at 22, I believe his Celtic career is over. He is likely to be moved on this summer as I can’t see him having the quality to get on the bench ahead of Stephen Welsh and Yuki Kobayashi, never mind making it into the starting eleven.
In other news, Odin Thiago Holm’s Celtic move close; medical in London today
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