One of the most intriguing aspects of Celtic’s recent Europa League match with Cluj was how Cluj striker Billel Omrani would fare in the game.
The striker had scored twice for the Romanian side in their 4-3 win over the Hoops in the Champions League qualifiers. Not long after that, reports from Romania claimed that the Hoops had made a £3 million bid for the forward.
Performance was always going to be scrutinised
With that in mind, Omrani’s performance was going to be watched closely. It has to be said, aside from one shot which was well saved by Fraser Forster, he didn’t have much of an impact on the game. He rarely threatened aside from that shot as the Hoops eased to a 2-0 victory.
It has to be said, that Omrani’s performance should put him near the bottom of the list of any potential strikers that the Hoops may be signing.
The player does have talent. He showed that in the 4-3 win over Celtic earlier this season. However, he didn’t come up against Christopher Jullien in that game.
Lost the battle against Hoops summer signing
In the battle between the players at Celtic Park on Thursday night, Jullien undeniably came out on top. Omrani does have a good scoring record for Cluj this season. He has found the back of the net on 10 occasions so far.
Is he as good a player as Odsonne Edouard though? Probably not. The Hoops will need to start looking for Edouard’s eventual replacement soon enough.
Judging on his most recent performance against the Hoops, Omrani will not be that player. Perhaps he will improve when the sides meet again in the last group stage game in December. May then if he performs well the Hoops will firm up their interest in the player.
At the moment though, Omrani is not a player that the Hoops should be looking to sign.
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