Former Celtic striker, Frank McAvennie, has already seen enough of Patryk Klimala to decide that the Polish Under-21 international isn’t good enough to replace Leigh Griffiths for the Hoops.
Speaking to Football Insider, McAvennie has encouraged Neil Lennon to find a solution to the current impasse that has seen Griffiths discarded from first team training.
So what has McAvennie said?
When asked to reflect on the forwards that the Celtic gaffer has at his disposal, he said:
“If Griffiths is not going to be a part of it they need to bring in another.
“The two games in which I saw Klimala last week – no. He scored a good goal but he is not for me. He is not going to score 20-odd goals like Edouard.
“Maybe Lenny needs to put his arm round Griff and say, “Look, I need you.” He scores a lot goals. He will score you 20 goals so I am hoping that can be resolved.
“Leigh number two and Klimala number three is what I’d prefer.”
So is McAvennie correct?
No, few would have predicted the player that Odsonne Edouard would go on to become when he first arrived at Parkhead as a fresh faced teenager from PSG and to write off Klimala after a couple of pre-season friendlies suggests that it’s maybe a good thing that Macca isn’t part of the Celtic recruitment team.
Griffiths may score “lots of goals” but he is also out of shape, unfit and lacking in match practice, whereas Klimala has returned from lockdown looking even fitter than he was before – if Lennon was to give the Scotland international preferential treatment, it would only have a negative effect on the rest of the squad.
Given Lennon’s comments on Griffiths, it may yet be the case that he looks for another option in attack anyway with the uncertain surrounding whether or not the former Hibs man can be trusted.