Celtic’s midfield has notably changed over the last few weeks amid incomings and departures during the summer window.
Matt O’Riley’s move to Brighton & Hove Albion, alongside Tomoki Iwata’s switch to Birmingham, have paved the way for Arne Engels and Luke McCowan to join in their place.
Last weekend, Paulo Bernardo’s performance in the Glasgow Derby made for excellent viewing. Meanwhile, Callum McGregor and Reo Hatate have shouldered added responsibility in the engine room to drive the side forward, not that they didn’t already perform that function anyway.
Odin Thiago Holm remains in the equation, and it remains to be seen if he can force his way into the plans after being omitted from the Bhoys’ Champions League squad.
With a congested fixture schedule on the other side of the international break, Brendan Rodgers must rotate his side to avoid burnout. Nevertheless, he will be excited by the options and versatility at his disposal.
Celtic have a plethora of different options at their disposal
Starting off, McGregor and Hatate are the two absolute mainstays in the Celtic midfield. At times, we have seen the former charge further forward to devastating effect, scoring three times in his opening four Scottish Premiership appearances.
Ideally, you want the club captain to kickstart attacks from deep, but his quality in advanced areas is something he became revered for earlier in his Bhoys career.
Engels can sit a little deeper to accommodate when needed, as he has previously operated in that role for Augsburg. Speaking after his arrival, Rodgers highlighted his ability to feature across several different positions as a key reason behind his capture.
He stated: “He has a wide range of attributes which will allow him to play a number of positions in midfield, so we feel he is an excellent acquisition for the club. I think Arne’s style of play, his energy and his technical ability really will suit our game model.”
Despite operating most commonly as an eight, Portugal Under-21 international Bernardo completed ten defensive actions against Rangers last Sunday. For all his work on the ball, his tenacious qualities have really shone through since joining Celtic and you’d like to think that would continue.
McCowan and Holm can also strut their stuff in various midfield berths, with the former capable of playing out wide if options are sparse. All in all, Rodgers has an exciting midfield dilemma to size up over the next few months.
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