Earlier this month, reports emerged that Scottish giants Celtic were assessing the prospect of luring Chelsea’s youngster Mario Pasalic to the Celtic Park during the summer transfer window. The promising youngster, who spent last season on loan at Serie A outfit AC Milan, did attract a lot of attention towards himself and with the likes of Real Betis, Lazio and Galatasaray also keen to make him put his pen to the paper, the Celts would not have a walk in the park as far as signing him is concerned.
Under the tutelage of Brendan Rodgers, Celtic were absolutely spectacular in the manner they plied their trade on the pitch. As a matter of fact, the Hoops clinched the domestic treble and did that in a grand fashion by not losing a single league game, which does give a testamentary evidence of their ruthlessness.
Unlike their arch rivals Rangers, Celtic haven’t been really busy this summer in their recruitments, considering that the team they have constructed under Rodgers’ stewardship has very little loopholes to tighten up.
One of the strongest aspects of the Bhoys last season was their resolute midfield, which has been strengthened further with the incomings in the shapes of Olivier Ntcham and Kundai Benyu.
However, considering their Champions League commitments, bolstering their arsenal with someone like Pasalic is only going to help them in the long run and also enable the former Liverpool manager in having the luxury of selecting from a wide array of midfielders with notable calibre and he is someone who should be attempted to be brought this summer.
Predominantly a central midfielder who sits behind the attacking trio in a 4-2-3-1 formation, Pasalic is a modern day midfielder who loves to get forward and invest himself in the attacking sectors. He can also be pencilled as a deep-lying midfielder as well and has demonstrated enormous pace, stamina and exuberance.
He retrieves the ball well and despite being in his learning phase, he creates yards of space for his teammates with his movements and no wonder he is so highly rated at this stroke of the hour.
Pasalic registered 24 appearances in Serie A with the Red and Blacks, in which he banged 5 goals and inked 1 assist to his name. Besides, he made 0.8 key passes, 1 tackle, 0.8 interceptions, 0.6 clearances and 0.3 blocks per game on an average and his pass completion rate of 84% is a quite decent one as well.
His chances of being a regular under Antonio Conte’s regime looks bleak and frankly speaking, the former Hajduk Split man must be looking for a new endeavour with a permanent move to elevate his stature to the next level.
Statistics Credits: WhoScored
