Celtic were pretty busy during the previous summer transfer window in terms of bringing new Bhoys to Parkhead and moving some out in the other direction under Ange Postecoglou.
With the next summer window on the horizon, it seems as though one Hoops player, in particular, that was involved in last summer’s busy period could be on the move again.
What’s the news?
According to a Celtic source relaying information to Football Insider, defender Osaze Urhoghide is likely to be on the move again during the upcoming summer transfer window.
That’s if a permanent deal to Oostende, where he’s currently on loan, can’t be agreed.
Repeating Lennon’s mistake
Celtic signed the centre-back, who is currently valued at £270k according to Transfermarkt, during the 2021 summer transfer window from English League One side Sheffield Wednesday on a four-year deal after he agreed a pre-contract agreement with the Hoops in March.
Since then, the defender has only made one senior appearance for the Parkhead club, which came during their 3-2 win over Real Betis in the Europa League where he played the full 90 minutes in the right-back position.
During his time in Belgium, the 21-year-old has been using his time and opportunity there to show Postecoglou what he’s capable of by racking up an average of 2.2 interceptions per game, the highest of any other player at the club, as well as 1.8 tackles and two clearances per game.
If the Englishman ends up joining the Belgian side, or even another club, on a permanent basis in the summer, this could potentially end up being a similar sort of mistake for Postecoglou as it was for Neil Lennon to sell Virgil van Dijk to Southampton back in 2015 for a fee of £13m.
He has since gone on to be a superstar with Liverpool having won the Premier League and Champions League.
What should Celtic do with Urhoghide in the summer?
Keep him in the squad
Loan him out
Sell him
Labelled as an “immense” talent by Wednesday manager Darren Moore, Urhoghide certainly has enough time ahead of him to really become a standout first-team figure for the Hoops, if given the chance to do so and gradually become more intrinsic to Postecoglou’s side.
With all of that in mind, if the Hoops do want to move the defender on again in the summer, they should make sure it’s on another loan deal at a club where he’d be getting regular game time and enough of a challenge to show his parent club what he’s made of.
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