Former Rangers skipper, Barry Ferguson, believes that Celtic striker, Leigh Griffiths, should leave the club this January in an attempt to rediscover the form that saw him become a Parkhead hero – but only on loan.
Ferguson, speaking to PLZ Soccer, acknowledges where Griffiths is in the Celts pecking order and forms his opinion after the £3.5m signing of Patryk Klimala.
So what has Ferguson said?
When asked if the Scotland international is producing enough at the Hoops following his return to first team action, Ferguson said:
“It’s not [enough], he needs to go and play, it’s as simple as that. I don’t think he’s going to do that at Celtic”.
“Edouard is fit and available and he’s going to be number one. They have signed this boy [Klimala] coming in for a lot of money as well, so for me the best solution for Celtic would be to loan him out for the last few months of the season”.
“Go and let him get a certain amount of games and see if he can start banging the goals in. Then bring him back and make a decision in the summer”.
So is Ferguson correct?
In a nutshell, yes, regardless of Griffiths popularity amongst Celtic fans, he just hasn’t been the same player for almost 18-months now due to various health and injury related issues, if he was firing on all cylinders Neil Lennon wouldn’t have gone out and spent decent money on Klimala, who is essentially a back-up to Edouard.
The Parkhead side won’t have spent £3.5m for a player to either sit on the bench or in the stand so Griffiths – as Ferguson says – now finds himself as third choice striker in a team that plays with just one through the middle on their own supported by wingers and attacking midfielders.
His career at Celtic is far from over but if he is to regain favour at the Hoops he has to prove that he is still capable of producing at the level required, a rumoured move to Hibernian was quashed by Lennon, however, now that he has secured an understudy to Edouard he may have a change of heart.
Should Leigh Griffiths leave Celtic on loan this transfer window?
Yes
No
Griffiths may yet have a say in the destination of this year’s Scottish Premiership, a loan spell at his former club could be the ideal opportunity to put a dent into rivals Rangers title bid by doing what he does best – scoring goals.