Charly Musonda’s has still not revealed his best self during his short time with Scottish Premiership outfit, Celtic. The 21-year-old has appeared in 6 games so far after signing an 18-month loan spell with the Hoops in the January transfer window. However, his only highlight so far came against Zenit St. Petersburg in the Round of 32 Europa League when the Belgian assisted Callum McGregor to a goal.
When asked about his situation with the Scottish side, Musonda said, “The challenge here is tough and unique because every team sets up to try and stop you. That’s not an easy thing, whereas in European games it’s more open and teams don’t really come out to try and stop us. There’s no doubt it’s a good learning curve for me. It’s a physical game here, but it’s also physical in England so I’m used to that.”
Musonda was way below the pecking order at Chelsea under the management of Antonio Conte. His development was getting hindered with each game spent on the benches a loan-move was the best career move to somehow fulfil his upscale potential.
Musonda returned to the Bridge last January after spending the first half of 2016/17 season with La Liga outfit, Real Betis. The Belgian dazzled the crowd with his bag of skills and a scintillating turn of pace from the wide areas. Portraying a game very similar to the early days of Cristiano Ronaldo, Musonda has been earmarked to be a future star in Chelsea ranks.
However, he can only develop by playing regularly against elite competition, something he has not received under Conte.
Musonda is a winger by trade but can appear centrally in the attacking midfield role as well. Standing 5 feet 8 inches, his balance and agility paired with remarkable technical abilities allow the starlet to weave his way through the defence and drill in balls from the flanks – an integral part of any offence in the modern game.
His arrival to Celtic Park will obviously has come as a huge boost to the Hoops especially with Tom Rogic currently struggling to find his feet after spending a stint on the sidelines due to injury.
The Green and Whites are poised to win their 7th consecutive league title and Brendan Rodgers is quite flexible with his team selection. He has provided youngsters with plenty of opportunities to prove themselves and Musonda has been privy to the same treatment.
It might too early to judge the Belgian international just by the past 6 games as any young player needs a certain break-in period with a new team. He has shown glimpses of class which come to light as the wide man develops with more first-team action over the course of the season. The Celtic faithful should have nothing to worry about for now as the wonderkid is predicted to make it big in the game one day and Rodgers is the ideal man to bring the best out of him having developed talents like Raheem Sterling and Kieran Tierney.
