September 17, 2024

Celtic have wasted £3.8m on a signing who played less than Lagerbielke

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers was backed by the board during the summer transfer window last year but not many of his signings have been hugely successful thus far.

Of the ten signings, on loan and permanent deals, made by the Northern Irish head coach last year, only three signings hit double figures for starts in the Scottish Premiership – Luis Palma, Hyun-jun Yang, and Paulo Bernardo.

Many of the additions made in that window have yet to nail down a regular spot in the starting XI at Parkhead and the club may look back on their business during that period with regret, as they potentially wasted millions on poor additions

Gustaf Lagerbielke is one player who has struggled badly in Scotland, with just four league starts to his name, but the Hoops have also had a nightmare with Danish midfielder Odin Thiago Holm.

How much Odin Thiago Holm has cost Celtic so far

The Daily Record reported last summer that the Scottish giants agreed a deal worth £2.6m to sign the young whiz from Valerenga on a permanent deal.

Holm, as per Salary Sport, is reportedly on £4.8k-per-week with the Bhoys and this means that he is set to earn just shy of £250k for the season.

lagerbielke-celtic-champions-league-premiership-phillips-rodgers

This means that Celtic have spent in excess of £2.8m, including the transfer fee and wages, for the 21-year-old flop so far, and they are yet to see much in the way of a return on that.

As you can see in the table above, Holm did not justify that expense with his minutes on the pitch as only two outfield players, both academy graduates, played less than him, and even Lagerbielke racked up more minutes in the Premiership.

Odin Thiago Holm’s performances for Celtic

He arrived in Glasgow off the back of 25 league starts for his former club over the previous 18 months and came in to compete for a spot in the middle of the park.

However, Rodgers only handed him nine appearances and two starts to impress in the league, in which time the £2.6m signing provided one assist but also lost 54% of his duels.

During the title celebrations at Parkhead earlier this month, Nicolas Kuhn attempted to hand the trophy to the young Dane but simply shook his head and refused to lift it, possibly due to his lack of contribution to the success on the pitch.

The central midfielder also played just two matches in the group stages of the Champions League and was sent off as a substitute against Feyenoord, which may have contributed to the manager opting to rarely use him for the remainder of the campaign.

Overall, the signing of Holm has been a nightmare for Celtic as the £2.8m spent on him has been wasted thus far, due to his lack of involvement on the pitch, domestically and in Europe.

His last appearance in a matchday squad for the Hoops was in March, when he came off the bench against St Johnstone, and there is nothing to suggest his fortune is about to change in Glasgow, which means that the club may be best cutting ties with him, on loan or permanently, in the summer to end his Scottish nightmare.

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