According to the latest reports from Sky Sports, Celtic have agreed on a deal for Chicago Fire fullback Andrew Gutman. Fire’s manager Nelson Rodriguez recently confirmed that their star left-back has joined the Hoops. Rangers were the team which brought Gutman on trial (Daily Record) first, but Celtic have definitely snapped him up after the recent confirmation by the MLS outfit’s manager.
Rodriguez was quoted as saying, ”Andrew was offered a contract but chose not to accept it. Instead, he decided to go with the offer from Celtic, so good luck to him.” Gutman had offers from quite a few (The Athletic) American clubs including his current team, but it was clear that he was destined for big things. Now he can start the next chapter of his footballing career in Glasgow.
Reports from Daily Record even claimed that Rangers had offered a contract to the 22-year-old but the defender wanted to take some time before coming to a decision and amidst all that, it seems like Celtic came into the picture and lured him away.
Gutman is also a winner of Hermann Trophy which is given to the best footballer in the American college circuit and the fullback is considered as a massive talent.
The fact that even Rangers were impressed with him after a trial suggests that the player has it in him to be a success in the Scottish Premiership. However, the Hoops faithful shouldn’t expect miracles from him straight away as he doesn’t have any experience of playing football outside America. So the club might have to be patient with him in the initial months.
The tempo and physicality of the Scottish Premiership are tough to handle even for some seasoned players so we think that Gutman is being considered as a long term prospect at the club. However, the Bhoys are definitely in need of an able left back as Emilio Izaguirre has failed to cut the mustard at the top level. Kieran Tierney is a mainstay in that position, but in his absence, Brendan Rodgers doesn’t have many options and Izaguirre has been a liability more often than not when he starts.
As a result, Rodgers had to use his best ball playing midfielder Callum McGregor as a left back in the Old Firm derby as the manager didn’t want to go in with Izaguirre in such a big game. So one can clearly see that the team has got an issue when Tierney becomes unavailable for few games. Therefore signing Gutman is definitely a step in the right direction from the club.
