Celtic manager Neil Lennon has lauded the impact that loan signing Diego Laxalt has made at the club, The Glasgow Times reports.
Although admitting it’s still very early in the player’s career in Glasgow, the Bhoys boss is also hopeful of speaking to the Uruguayan and sorting out a permanent deal.
As quoted by The Glasgow Times, Lennon said: “It’s early days. Listen, when you’ve got a player like that [you want to keep him]. It will probably come down to having discussions with him.
“He’s a player I’ve admired for a long time, and he’s proven everything that I thought about him to be true. He’s a great defender. I’ve seen him a lot of times and I’ve always liked his style.
“Going forward he gives us good pace and thrust on the left-hand side, but he likes to defend. I think his positioning, his reading of the game and his football intelligence is very high.”
Laxalt is only on loan for the season from AC Milan and it’s still way too early to determine whether he’ll still be at the club this time next year.
His form has been exciting though and he’s immediately made that left-back position his own, ahead of 2019 signing Greg Taylor.
The years of experience he’s gained at the highest level in Serie A and with his country at the World Cup are clear to see.
He was particularly impressive against Lille in the Europa League last week. Constantly energetic in attack and defence, the talented French side could barely get past him all evening.
If he can maintain that kind of level throughout the season, there is absolutely no doubt that Celtic should pull the trigger on his permanent signing, if it financially makes sense.
Hopefully, he’s enjoying himself in Glasgow.
In other news, Shane Duffy has returned to social media, getting responses from James McClean amongst others.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
