Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers endured a busy summer transfer window at Parkhead for the second year in succession, since his return to Glasgow.
After replacing Ange Postecoglou in the dugout in 2023, the Northern Irish head coach had to deal with Jota and Carl Starfelt moving on, to Al Ittihad and Celta Vigo respectively, as well as Aaron Mooy deciding to retire.
The board did back him with a host of new signings, though, including the likes of Luis Palma, Paulo Bernardo, Maik Nawrocki, and Hyun-jun Yang, among others.
Nicolas Kuhn and Adam Idah were also brought in during the January transfer window to bolster the attack, and the former has registered 12 goals and 13 assists in 34 games for Celtic to date.
This summer, Rodgers was dealt another blow as attacking midfielder Matt O’Riley was sold to Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion, where he scored the winning goal in a 2-1 victory over Manchester City down south on Saturday.
It was a big blow to lose the Denmark international from the squad during the summer transfer window, because of his form for the club in the 2023/24 campaign.
Matt O'Riley's form for Celtic last season
After Postecoglou moved on from Parkhead, Rodgers came in and helped O’Riley to find his best form at the top end of the pitch from a central midfield position.
In the 2022/23 campaign under the Australian boss, the Danish wizard only found the back of the net three times in 38 appearances in the Scottish Premiership, which shows that he was not a reliable scorer for the Hoops.
Rodgers found a way, with his 4-3-3 system, to get the left-footed ace more involved in the game in the final third, with O’Riley going from 1.8 shots per game to 2.9 shots per game in the Premiership.
The 23-year-old magician ended the 2023/24 campaign with a staggering return of 18 goals in 37 appearances in the division, 15 more than he managed in the previous season.
This shows that the Northern Irish boss unearthed a superstar by unlocking the midfielder’s goalscoring potential, whilst O’Riley also provided the team with 13 assists in the Premiership.
Sofascore rating
7.91
1st
Goals
18
1st
Assists
13
1st
Big chances created
14
1st
Key passes per game
2.5
1st
As you can see in the table above, the Denmark international was the star of the show for the Scottish giants in the top-flight last season under Rodgers, with his ability to score goals, assist his teammates, and create high-quality opportunities.
Celtic got incredible value for money out of the central midfielder, who was sold to Brighton for more than £25m this summer, when you consider that he reportedly was only on £14k-per-week, the 14th-highest in the squad.
However, his performances whilst earning £14k-per-week also shined a light on how much of a blunder the signing of Gustaf Lagerbielke was for the Hoops.
How much Celtic paid for Gustaf Lagerbielke
In the summer of 2023, during Rodgers’ first transfer window back at the club, the Celtic head coach dipped into the market to bolster his options at the heart of the defence, following the departure of Starfelt to LaLiga.
Maik Nawrocki was brought in from Legia Warsaw and the club also swooped to sign Lagerbielke from Swedish side Elfsborg for a reported fee of £3m, as well as signing him to a wage of £14k-per-week – as much as O’Riley last season.
The young, right-footed, centre-back was brought in to compete for a starting position alongside Cameron Carter-Vickers at the back for the Hoops, after Starfelt’s exit left a hole on the left side of the defence.
In the 2022/23 campaign under Postecoglou, the now-Celta Vigo star made 28 appearances in the Premiership and won 67% of his duels and completed 92% of his passes for the Scottish giants.
Appearances
16
Pass accuracy
81%
Tackles + interceptions per game
2.6
Ground duel success rate
53%
Aerial duel success rate
64%
As you can see in the table above, Lagerbielke had made 16 appearances in the Swedish top-flight in 2023 before his move to Celtic but had matched Starfelt’s showings for Celtic.
The Swedish titan won a lower percentage of his duels in comparison to the former Hoops colossus and completed a much lower percentage of his attempted passes.
Celtic's Gustaf Lagerbielke blunder
The 24-year-old flop failed to convince Rodgers that he had the quality or consistency to play week-in-week-out for Celtic in the Premiership last season.
He ended the 2023/24 campaign with seven appearances and four starts in the Premiership, as Stephen Welsh, Nawrocki, Liam Scales, and Carter-Vickers all played more games in the division at centre-back.
This shows that Lagerbielke was the fifth-choice option out of the manager’s central defenders, which may not be what the aim for him was when the club decided to spend £3m and £14k-per-week in wages on him.
Celtic’s best player, certainly from an attacking perspective, earned £14k-per-week but the Hoops did not get anywhere near the same value from the central defender for the same price.
In the 2023/24 season, Lagerbielke, who was sent off against Feyenoord in the Champions League, made ten appearances and started six times in all competitions for the club, having cost £3.7m in transfer fees and wages – over £600k per start, which is why he has been a flop.
He was then sent out on loan to FC Twente in the Eredivise by Rodgers, who brought in Auston Trusty from Sheffield United on a permanent deal this summer, ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.
This showed that the manager did not trust him to be an option for him in the first-team this term, whilst the addition of Trusty is potentially an admission that the Swedish flop does not have a future at Parkhead – as he has already been replaced.
Lagerbielke is yet to start a league game for Twente, coming off the bench three times so far, and it currently looks unlikely that Celtic will make much of the £3.7m they have spent on him so far back, which means that the club have messed up and had a howler with the defender.
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