If only this Celtic side had been kept together…
Observing Jeremie Frimpong’s successful performance for Bayer Leverkusen last night was a bittersweet experience for many Celtic supporters. While we are delighted to see him thriving on the big stage, it serves as yet another reminder of our struggle to retain players with immense talent.
Although we undeniably belong to a significant club, we find ourselves in the predicament of being the prominent fish in a relatively small pond. Consequently, it becomes challenging to keep our star attractions when larger clubs inevitably come knocking. Over the past decade, we have turned a significant profit by selling on exceptional players, but for us supporters, the illusion of what if we could keep them all together remains a wishful dream.
For the sake of amusement, let us construct a fantasy football Celtic side that temporarily disregards the harsh realities of the game. This team could have lined up for us today at St Mirren in the Scottish Cup, a team that would still be at the peak of their abilities and capable of attaining success at the highest level.
In a 3-5-2 formation, let us consider the following dream team:
Goalkeeper: Fraser Forster.
Centre-back: Virgil Van Dijk.
Centre-back: Cameron Carter Vickers.
Centre-back: Kristoffer Ajer.
Right Wing-back: Jeremie Frimpong.
Left Wing-back: Kieran Tierney.
Central Defensive Midfielder: Victor Wanyama.
Central Midfielder: Matt O’Riley.
Central Midfielder: Reo Hatate.
Forward: Moussa Dembele.
Forward: Kyogo Furuhashi.
Substitutes: Hart, Juranovic, Boyata, Starfelt, McGregor, Armstrong, Edouard, Jota, Giakoumakis.
It is without a doubt that, unfortunately, we cannot fulfill the notion of what a side we’d have if we were able to retain all of this talent. Nonetheless, the thought is an entertaining diversion from reality.
It was just a bit of fantasy football – now, back to reality…