It could be an understatement to say that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s introduction to Scottish soccer and Celtic was a dramatic one on Saturday night time.
The Hoops confirmed their transfer to signal the midfielder on a free switch this weekend, with Oxlade-Chamberlain paraded in entrance of followers when Martin O’Neill’s Celts confronted Dundee within the Scottish Cup.
These followers witnessed a shocking ending to the match at Parkhead. Whereas Ox performed no function within the sport, fellow rookie Junior Adam actually did.
The centre-forward, signed on switch deadline day, began his Celtic profession in model, scoring an aesthetic end late in stoppage time to take the sport into extra-time.
Sebastian Tunekuti’s aim and help in Glasgow will obtain lots of reward, however Adam’s end deserved a gold medal. After the disastrous reign of Wilfried Nancy, Boies is as soon as once more lively underneath O’Neill. However he wants to slot in with Oxlade-Chamberlain as quickly as doable.
The place Oxlade-Chamberlain might match into Celtic’s midfield
There have been lots of issues for Celtic this season, whether or not it is within the broad positions, the place the likes of Jota and Nicolas Kuhn are nonetheless anticipated to get replaced, or in assault, the place Daen Maeda hasn’t hit as excessive as he did final season.
Nonetheless, it looks like midfield is likely one of the largest issues, which is precisely why Oxlade-Chamberlain was introduced on after the deadline.
Celts have wanted somebody to play alongside Callum McGregor in the course of the park for a very long time, however he has had quite a few companions, all of whom have delivered moderately inconsistent performances.
Reo Hatate, who was probably the greatest gamers within the Premiership underneath supervisor Ange Postecoglou, is now dealing with the bottom level of his time in Scotland. Missing drive, attacking risk and the power to create probabilities, the whole lot feels somewhat too secure in terms of the Japanese midfielder’s sport.
Subsequent is Arne Engels. Such is his significance that O’Neill obtained a £25m bid from Nottingham Forest on switch deadline day, joking that it will take a £100m bid to win him from Paradise. Nonetheless, as a result of these bids, Belgium’s future stays fairly unsure even now that the window has closed.
High scorer Benjamin Nygren has additionally performed lots within the heart of the park this season, however his finest place is undoubtedly additional ahead, the place he can affect play within the closing third. His 15 objectives within the 2025/26 season are proof of that.
Subsequently, with Hatate not doing properly and Engels being faraway from the crew on Saturday, there’s positively room for Ox to make a transfer. McGregor wants a associate and the previous Arsenal man might be a part of the crew.
That being mentioned, it could nonetheless be a couple of weeks earlier than we see him begin a sport. The 32-year-old continues to coach with Arsenal however has not performed a match since Could 11, when he was with Besiktas.
Greatest loser from Oxlade-Chamberlain’s transfer to Celtic
Certain, the English midfielder could also be past his finest, however there is no underestimating what an important deal that is. He’s a participant who has gained not solely the Premier League but in addition the Champions League. He was an important footballer all through his profitable profession, though he was vulnerable to accidents.
Oxlade-Chamberlain will not have a lot time to hit his stride between now and the tip of the season, however his arrival is dangerous information for a lot of gamers on this Celtic crew, not least the aforementioned standard-bearer, but in addition Paulo Bernardo, who’s a candidate to play alongside McGregor within the heart of the park.
There’s a sense that now could be the time to signal the Japan worldwide, however absolutely Celtic have signed a brand new midfielder and Bernardo’s time in Scotland is coming to an finish?
Bernardo underneath every Celtic supervisor | ||
|---|---|---|
supervisor | sport | dedication to objectives |
Brendan Rodgers | 82 | 14 |
Wilfried Nancy | 4 | 0 |
Martin O’Neill | 8 | 0 |
In January, the Portuguese attracted curiosity from quite a few groups, together with an unnamed Danish membership who reportedly made a mortgage bid. Nonetheless, this was rejected as Hoops didn’t have a alternative. However even when there is no such thing as a one to interchange him, the choice feels unusual.
Certainly, now that Oxlade-Chamberlain has arrived, it will be shocking to see the 24-year-old begin for Celtic once more, not to mention function within the well-known inexperienced and white striped shirt once more.
In any case, the £3.5m signing is just a participant O’Neill would not worth very extremely. That is evident from his lack of enjoying time in latest weeks.
Bernardo has performed simply 200 minutes in eight video games for the Irish supervisor since returning to Glasgow this season and is unlikely to see any additional minutes after his efficiency on the weekend.
His look within the cup match in opposition to Dundee was his first begin for the reason that win over Auchinleck within the closing cup match. He has not performed a single minute within the league for the reason that 2-0 win over Motherwell in late December.
Throughout that match, he was substituted at half-time by Luke McCowan and was hooked. Towards Dundee he was once more substituted on the break, which was a horrible indictment of his high quality. O’Neill was clearly not terribly impressed together with his efficiency, and it was simple to see why.
To nobody’s shock, he contributed little offensively and little when in possession. Luckily, Oxlade Chamberlain is the right remedy for that.
He’s a box-to-box machine, somebody who cannot solely break by the opposition half, but in addition break up the play. Sadly for Bernardo, it seems like his time at Celtic has come to an finish and he has gathered mud.
Celtic seem to have completed as ‘Scotland’s finest’ after Oxlade and Chamberlain signings
The arrival of Oxlade-Chamberlain might spell dangerous information for Celtic for the time being.
