Eboue Kouassi during his time with Celtic (Getty Images)
According to Daily Record, Celtic flop Eboue Kouassi hopes to make a permanent switch to Genk. Kouassi, 22, came through the ranks of Ivoire Academy’s youth system in his hometown and signed for Krasnodar’s youth side in 2014. Though he didn’t feature regularly for the Russian outfit’s senior team, he earned a move to Celtic in January 2017.
In three years with the Hoops, the Ivorian has managed just 22 appearances and his time at Celtic Park has been disastrous. He made just two Premiership appearances last season and was sent to Genk on loan last summer.
Meanwhile, Neil Lennon’s men have been dominant in the Scottish league throughout the campaign as they hope to lift the premiership title for the 6th time in as many years. The manager has done a brilliant job despite their rivals competing on equal terms earlier.
The Hoops are currently atop the league table with 13 points ahead of second-placed Rangers. They have been riding high on the success of star striker Odsonne Edouard, who has scored 21 goals so far and they have been consistent in every department.
Their midfield has been one of the best in the league with the likes of Scott Brown, Ryan Christie, Callum McGregor, Ismaila Soro, Nir Bitton available at the manager’s disposal. Led by Brown and McGregor in the central areas, the Hoops have dominated their rivals in the past few years and are still continuing at the top of their game.
In that case, it would be wise to offload Eboue Kouassi, who is on loan with Genk. He has also shown little interest in playing for the Glasgow club earlier in his time at Celtic Park.
The 22-year-old has also not had a good time in Belgium, featuring in just 4 games so far without making any contribution. He would be surplus to requirements at Celtic and the lack of game time has been a major issue.
Lennon would be in dilemma while selecting the team and Kouassi would eventually be benched as his confidence level is too low. Keeping the Ivorian would also lead to wasting their resources in the future as they have a plethora of midfield talents in their ranks.
Bitton and Soro have been regularly used as a defensive midfielder by the manager and Kouassi would be surplus to requirements. He would get limited game time and that would not help him in getting selected for the national team.
Therefore, Celtic must look to part ways with the 22-year-old and sell him permanently in the summer.
