STOKE CITY boss Michael O’Neill has thrown some of his loan players under the bus without even running the rule over them himself.

Moritz Bauer is currently on loan at Celtic and was sent out by the former managerial team. O’Neill is now in and assessing his options ahead of January. However, it would appear Moritz Bauer has no future at Stoke when he returns from his Celtic loan in the summer.

This could be good news for Celtic if they wanted to keep the player on, but with Hatem and Frimpong both in front of Bauer at this point, it would seem unlikely.

Speaking to Stoke Sentinel, O’Neill said:

“There’s different types of loans,”

“Harry Souttar’s and Verlinden’s loans are very different from Wimmer’s and Bauer’s loans.

“Players on loan from a development point of view we have to watch very closely because we believe they have an awful lot to offer the football club.

“But players out on loan for other reasons, possibly their future lies away from the club and we have to focus on those we believe have a future at the club.”

So far Moritz has made seven appearances for Celtic, totalling 464 minutes of action.

The surprise package in Jeremie Frimpong has meant the loan player has taken more of a backseat than first intended.

It appears Stoke will cut the defender loose in the summer for a decent bid. Considering the paid the best part of £6m for the right-back, it’s crazy to think O’Neill is just discarding the defender.

Should he get more game time in the Hoops and impress, there’s always a chance Celtic could use this to their advantage but right now it doesn’t look on the cards.

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