Given the current left-back situation at Celtic, manager Brendan Rodgers will be disappointed he didn’t manage to bring one in last month. Amid Greg Taylor’s injury, Alexandro Bernabei is the sole fit player in the position.
He was poor against Aberdeen on Saturday, giving the ball away for Bojan Miovski’s opener and eventually being replaced by a right-back, Anthony Ralston. One assumes Rodgers will get imaginative with who plays at left-back on Wednesday against Hibs, but the issue could have been solved if The Bhoys made a move in January.
The likes of Tiago Araujo and Layvin Kurzawa were linked with moves to Parkhead, yet the most enticing name to be mentioned was Owen Beck’s. Now back at Dundee, the Welshman hugely impressed at Dens Park in the first half of the campaign.
He was recalled by Liverpool in January and because he made one appearance while back at his parent club, any move to Parkhead for Beck was ruled out. Rules state players can play for just two teams in a season and resultantly, the 21-year-old could only head back to the Dee, like he did.
This left Celtic supporters widely frustrated, but that does in no way mean they won’t return to sign the player in the summer. Left-back will be a key area Brendan Rodgers will want to address in a few months.
It seemed as though Beck was a key target in the January window, and Sky Sports journalist Anthony Joseph has rated the Hoops’ chances of swooping back in for him in the off-season: “There is still a chance for Celtic to re-visit that in the summer”, he said (The Celtic Exchange Podcast via 67 Hail Hail).
“But a lot of Championship clubs were looking at Owen Beck as well in England. If he has another good second half of the season, then Celtic could face competition if they are still looking at Owen Beck.”
