The strange situation with Nigerian central defender at Glasgow Celtic

Published: August 17, 2021

Taking stock of Osaze Urhoghide's first forty seven days as a Glasgow Celtic player, his celebrated move to the Bhoys has not gone as planned, with the central defender yet to make his competitive debut.

The 2019 Nigeria Olympic Team invitee won't be pleased with his bench role at the Scottish Premiership giants.

Urhoghide joined Celtic on a four-year deal in July 2021, snubbing advances of Premier League clubs because he felt he had better chances of playing first team football at Parkhead.

The former Sheffield Wednesday man not playing his first official game for Celtic is not due to any physical problems as he was involved in pre-season but as a result of the tactical decisions made by manager Ange Postecoglou.

The likes of Carl Starfelt, Stephen Welsh and Nir Bitton are ahead of Urhoghide in Postecoglou's pecking order of central defenders.

Strangely, the Australian football tactician sent a clear signal that he does not trust Urhoghide by opting to hand a debut to 18-year-old center back Dane Murray after Bitton was sent off in the first half of Celtic's UEFA Champions League clash against Midtjylland last month.

The Nigerian was omitted from Celtic's matchday roster for their first two league games of the season against
Heart of Midlothian and Dundee FC, and was a non-playing substitute against FC Midtjylland (twice), FK Jablonec (twice) and Heart of Midlothian in the Champions League and Europa League qualifiers, and League Cup respectively.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : celticfc.com

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