Celtic messed up with Rodgers flop who earned as much as Matt O’Riley

Celtic supervisor Brendan Rodgers endured a busy summer time switch window at Parkhead for the second 12 months in succession, since his return to Glasgow.

After changing Ange Postecoglou within the dugout in 2023, the Northern Irish head coach needed to cope with Jota and Carl Starfelt transferring on, to Al Ittihad and Celta Vigo respectively, in addition to Aaron Mooy deciding to retire.

The board did again him with a bunch of recent signings, although, together with the likes of Luis Palma, Paulo Bernardo, Maik Nawrocki, and Hyun-jun Yang, amongst others.

Nicolas Kuhn and Adam Idah have been additionally introduced in through the January switch window to bolster the assault, and the previous has registered 12 goals and 13 assists in 34 video games for Celtic so far.

This summer time, Rodgers was dealt one other blow as attacking midfielder Matt O’Riley was offered to Premier League facet Brighton & Hove Albion, the place he scored the successful aim in a 2-1 victory over Manchester Metropolis down south on Saturday.

It was a giant blow to lose the Denmark worldwide from the squad through the summer time switch window, due to his kind for the membership within the 2023/24 marketing campaign.

Matt O’Riley’s kind for Celtic final season

After Postecoglou moved on from Parkhead, Rodgers got here in and helped O’Riley to seek out his greatest kind on the prime finish of the pitch from a central midfield place.

Within the 2022/23 marketing campaign underneath the Australian boss, the Danish wizard solely discovered the again of the web three times in 38 appearances within the Scottish Premiership, which reveals that he was not a dependable scorer for the Hoops.

Rodgers discovered a method, together with his 4-3-3 system, to get the left-footed ace extra concerned within the recreation within the last third, with O’Riley going from 1.8 photographs per recreation to 2.9 shots per game within the Premiership.

The 23-year-old magician ended the 2023/24 marketing campaign with a staggering return of 18 goals in 37 appearances within the division, 15 greater than he managed within the earlier season.

This reveals that the Northern Irish boss unearthed a famous person by unlocking the midfielder’s goalscoring potential, while O’Riley additionally supplied the group with 13 assists within the Premiership.

As you may see within the desk above, the Denmark worldwide was the star of the present for the Scottish giants within the top-flight final season underneath Rodgers, together with his capacity to attain targets, help his teammates, and create high-quality alternatives.

Celtic received unbelievable worth for cash out of the central midfielder, who was offered to Brighton for more than £25m this summer time, when you think about that he reportedly was solely on £14k-per-week, the 14th-highest within the squad.

Nonetheless, his performances while incomes £14k-per-week additionally shined a lightweight on how a lot of a blunder the signing of Gustaf Lagerbielke was for the Hoops.

How a lot Celtic paid for Gustaf Lagerbielke

In the summertime of 2023, throughout Rodgers’ first switch window again on the membership, the Celtic head coach dipped into the market to bolster his choices on the coronary heart of the defence, following the departure of Starfelt to LaLiga.

Maik Nawrocki was introduced in from Legia Warsaw and the membership additionally swooped to signal Lagerbielke from Swedish facet Elfsborg for a reported fee of £3m, in addition to signing him to a wage of £14k-per-week – as a lot as O’Riley final season.

The younger, right-footed, centre-back was introduced in to compete for a beginning place alongside Cameron Carter-Vickers on the again for the Hoops, after Starfelt’s exit left a gap on the left facet of the defence.

Within the 2022/23 marketing campaign underneath Postecoglou, the now-Celta Vigo star made 28 appearances within the Premiership and gained 67% of his duels and accomplished 92% of his passes for the Scottish giants.

As you may see within the desk above, Lagerbielke had made 16 appearances within the Swedish top-flight in 2023 earlier than his transfer to Celtic however had matched Starfelt’s showings for Celtic.

The Swedish titan gained a decrease proportion of his duels compared to the previous Hoops colossus and accomplished a a lot decrease proportion of his tried passes.

Celtic’s Gustaf Lagerbielke blunder

The 24-year-old flop didn’t persuade Rodgers that he had the standard or consistency to play week-in-week-out for Celtic within the Premiership final season.

He ended the 2023/24 marketing campaign with seven appearances and 4 begins within the Premiership, as Stephen Welsh, Nawrocki, Liam Scales, and Carter-Vickers all played more games within the division at centre-back.

This reveals that Lagerbielke was the fifth-choice choice out of the supervisor’s central defenders, which might not be what the goal for him was when the membership determined to spend £3m and £14k-per-week in wages on him.

Celtic’s greatest participant, actually from an attacking perspective, earned £14k-per-week however the Hoops didn’t get wherever close to the identical worth from the central defender for a similar worth.

Within the 2023/24 season, Lagerbielke, who was despatched off towards Feyenoord within the Champions League, made ten appearances and began six occasions in all competitions for the membership, having value £3.7m in switch charges and wages – over £600k per begin, which is why he has been a flop.

He was then despatched out on mortgage to FC Twente within the Eredivise by Rodgers, who introduced in Auston Trusty from Sheffield United on a everlasting deal this summer time, forward of the 2024/25 marketing campaign.

This confirmed that the supervisor didn’t belief him to be an choice for him within the first-team this time period, while the addition of Trusty is doubtlessly an admission that the Swedish flop doesn’t have a future at Parkhead – as he has already been changed.

Lagerbielke is yet to start a league recreation for Twente, coming off the bench 3 times thus far, and it at the moment seems to be unlikely that Celtic will make a lot of the £3.7m they’ve spent on him thus far again, which implies that the membership have tousled and had a howler with the defender.

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