Jeremie Frimpong burst onto the Celtic sstage last Wednesday when the young defender put in a man of the match performance against Partick Thistle in the League Cup.
The right-back was dynamic, enthusiastic and had pace to burn. Still only 18, Jeremie made his first team debut way ahead of schedule after only coming in on the final day of the transfer window a month ago.
Timing is everything and Neil Lennon might have wished for some extra time in registering his Europa League squad. The deadline was Monday evening at the start of September and the following Wednesday the Celtic squad had to be submitted to UEFA.
This left Neil Lennon no time to assess the players he brought in properly – leaving out; Jeremie Frimpong, Jonathan Afolabi and Lee O’Connor. The young trio didn’t make it into the squad at the time with them all expected to play in the developmental. With Afolabi and O’Connor this was true but had Jeremie been registered Celtic could have had a very different option at right-back.
It’s crazy to think Celtic now have a plethora of right-backs – all who could do a job on their day. It’s not a massive deal Jeremie isn’t eligible but it would have been nice to get the bhoy some minutes in Europe.
Afolabi hasn’t started a first team game for Celtic yet but has been doing well in developmental – with Bayo suspended and Leigh Griffiths injured, having the Irishman to call on would have been handy as a backup.
Celtic still have plenty in the tank although an early injury to Odsonne Edouard would throw plans out the window pretty quick. A Ryan Christie centre forward move would be the likely scenario.
