Former Celtic Player Worried About Club's Summer Signing

Celtic made nine signings in the 2023 summer transfer window. Unfortunately, they did not bring in many, if any, proven players instead focussing on future prospects with high potential.

One of the major exits over the summer was that of Jota. Fans would have been hoping for a high-profile signing to replace him. 

There were late rumours linking the club with Daniel Podence. Instead, Celtic ended up signing Luis Palma from Aris FC.

Palma has made a couple of appearances for Celtic until now and that is unquestionably not enough to judge how good of a player he is or can be in the future. 

That being said, he has not been particularly impressive in the minutes he has been given and was not even brought on as a substitute against Livingston. A lot of that might be due to the fact that Celtic were down a man.

Frank McAvennie certainly does not sound particularly impressed with what he has seen from Palma till now. The former Celtic player has drawn comparisons to Sead Haksabanovic, who to his credit has actually made a good start on loan at Stoke City.

According to Football Insider, McAvennie is worried Palma will struggle just as much as Haksabanovic at Parkhead and said about the Honduran international:

“I do not think he has got the pace of Jota.

“At the moment I would say he is not much better than Haksabanovic.

“They are very similar kinds of players and I am thinking why would they get rid of one to bring in another if he is not better.

“When I came back to Scotland it took me a few weeks to get settled because the Scottish game is so much faster. You have got to be on your toes, you have got to be fitter and sharper so it still might take him a couple of weeks."

It might be a bit too early to reach any conclusions about Palma. Let's see where he finds himself in a month or two.

Even though he was hyped up as the replacement for Jota, it was clear even before he arrived that Palma was a very different type of player.

He does not have the flair or trickery of the Portuguese winger. Instead, his game is based much more on effectiveness in the final third of the pitch and the ability to make something happen from set pieces.