Celtic signed Jonathan Afolabi from Southampton in the summer with many thinking the Irishman would be quick to make his way to the first team and at least be in and around the bench. However, it’s proven not to be the case. Jeremie Frimpong got the fast track to the first team while other signings like Luca Connell, Lee O’Connor and Afolabi have been playing for the developmental side when there have been games.
There was a lot of buzz around Afolabi in the summer with Southampton seemingly far from happy he chose to join Celtic with the St Mary’s club having high hopes for the attacker.
An injury during the first half of the season has halted his progress no doubt but the player was fit when Neil Lennon opted to play Lewis Morgan upfront instead of bringing Afolabi into the fold. Perhaps, this was to protect the player who might not be ready to properly go yet.
According to Kieran Devlin who works for The Athletic and regularly joins the 90 Minute Cynic panel – there’s been interest from the English Championship about taking Afolabi on loan for the rest of the season.
Sources tell @TheAthleticUK that several English Championship clubs have enquired about Jonathan Afolabi's loan availability. Understand Celtic are reluctant to let it happen at the moment particularly with the club's dearth of options up front but still a possibility.
— Kieran Devlin (@NoNotThatDevlin) January 8, 2020
Surely if Celtic aren’t going to use the player this season it would be a positive move to send him out to get first-team experience.
