One of the biggest stories from Celtic’s midweek 5-0 Betfred Cup quarter-final win over Partick Thistle was the debut of right-back Jeremie Frimpong.
The recent signing from Manchester City didn’t put a foot wrong, and was very composed for a player who is just 18. Frimpong was just one of a number of prospects that were signed by the Hoops in the summer.
It will be intriguing to see who is next in line to follow Frimpong into the Celtic first-team. A candidate could well be Lee O’Connor.
Versatile defender could feature soon
The defender was signed on the same day as Frimpong, but from city rivals Manchester United. He has already established himself in the Hoops reserve side.
The good thing about O’Connor is that he can play at centre-back or full-back. Those are two positions where injuries seem to have frequently occurred for the Hoops recently.
If that trend continues, it would not be a surprise to see O’Connor feature for the first-team this season.
Another candidate may well be Jonathan Afolabi. The striker signed in the summer on a free transfer after leaving Southampton.
Striker has already made an impact for reserves
He has already made an impact for the Hoops reserve team, scoring with a cool back heel finish in the recent win over Morton.
With the injuries the Hoops have had up-front this season, Afolabi could well find himself in the first-team squad should the Hoops be short in numbers in attack.
At first, it would have seemed unlikely that the prospects that were signed by the Hoops in the summer would have made the first-team this season.
However, circumstances can quickly change. The Hoops were short at right-back, and Frimpong filled in and did very well in his debut.
That can only benefit his development as a player going forward. Hopefully it won’t be long until the next prospect breaks into the Celtic first-team.
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