As Celtic’s battle for places in their squad grows stronger, is Youssouf Mulumbu in danger of being frozen out?
The former Kilmarnock man signed for Celtic in the summer on a free transfer. On paper, it was a terrific piece of business by the club given his dominance of Premiership sides whilst at Kilmarnock.
Yet, Celtic fans have been robbed of truly seeing what the Congolese star is all about. Despite having some tremendous pedigree down south as well as with Killie, chances have been limited for him.
So far, Mulumbu has made only three appearances for the Hoops. Two of those matches have come in Europe, and only twice has he started for the club.
To be fair to him, he’s done nothing wrong whilst he’s been at the club. His performances have shown some real bite, and he’s therefore been taken well by the supporters in general.
Unfortunately for Mulumbu, however, squad competition has all of a sudden become a lot stronger since he arrived.
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So what makes Mulumbu the one likely to be in trouble here?
Simple. The Congolese man hasn’t been in any of the last eight Premiership starting XIs, and also hasn’t been in the match-day squad for four of them either.
At the moment, it’s difficult to see how desperate the situation needs to be for Mulumbu to get a call. If it was going to be anytime soon, then December would be the month for it.
Even now, however, there’s been no news on what’s going on with the former West Brom man and where he is in the pecking order. There’s been no news of an injury, and no reason to believe he couldn’t have started any of these recent matches.
If you look at Rodgers’ team selections, however, it would appear he’s nowhere near the side as it stands.