Celtic fans will generally consider Olivier Ntcham to be a successful Brendan Rodgers signing when he leaves.
The Frenchman has managed to play a solid role in a quadruple treble success that he’s had a big influence on. Ntcham has made a total of 147 appearances for the Hoops since arriving in the summer of 2017 for £4.5million [BBC].
You can’t really complain about that kind of return. He was a key figure under Rodgers before his departure in 2019, but his performances have certainly taken a massive slump under Lennon.
The Celtic boss hasn’t managed to get the best out of the former Man City man. Ntcham’s certainly been given opportunities this year too, with a decent 23 outings to his name.
But whenever he’s featured, the midfield has been incredibly stale. It was only after Olivier came out the team that we started to look more energetic and creative in the middle of the park.
And with the January window closing in just over a week’s time, Ntcham’s time to depart has come.
He’s now behind Ismaila Soro, David Turnbull, Callum McGregor, and Scott Brown in the pecking order. After his game-time started lessening to cameo appearances, he’s suddenly been dropping out of squads altogether.
Celtic have done well out of this particular Rodgers signing, but it’s time to go
Ntcham was nowhere to be seen in recent matches against Hamilton and Dundee United before the Dubai debacle. He did return to the bench against Rangers, but he didn’t even get on despite things going against us. He also wasn’t on the bench against Livingston on Wednesday. Granted, it could be the case that he was the second positive case after Dubai.
It had been reported at the start of the season that Ntcham’s agent had asked Celtic for their valuation for the player [Glasgow Times]. And with a contract running out in the summer of 2022, now is the chance to get maximum value from him.
Clubs won’t pay a decent fee for a struggling midfielder who’s into the final 12 months of his contract. That must be remembered before deadline day passes.
It’s not as if Ntcham is going to make much difference between now and the summer anyway. He’s already not part of our first-choice midfield, and the season is more or less irretrievable in any case.
His departure could also open the door for a Scott Robertson or Luca Connell to get more opportunities. That surely makes more sense from a long-term perspective.
Sky Sports man Anthony Joseph reported before the window opened that West Brom were keen on Ntcham and had made initial contact. He also stated that a number of clubs in France were said to be interested too.
It’s time to find out if that’s the case and send the Frenchman on his way. He’s not a major player here anymore, and selling now would help strengthen the summer budget further.
In other news, local media has lauded the performance of a reported Celtic target as we enter the final week of the window.
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