Celtic knew that they wanted to enhance their choices within the large areas after they misplaced Jota to an ACL harm and offered Nicolas Kuhn to Como in the summertime.
They took their time so as to add to the squad, however they ultimately introduced Sebastian Tounekti to the membership from Hammarby on deadline day firstly of the month.
Since his transfer to Parkhead, the Tunisia worldwide has captured the creativeness of supporters together with his electrical performances down the left flank in his first two appearances.
Why Sebastian Tounekti has already excited Celtic followers
Brendan Rodgers chucked him in on the deep finish as a starter in opposition to Kilmarnock within the Scottish Premiership, and was rewarded with a powerful show.
Per Sofascore, the left-sided attacker created 4 probabilities for his teammates and accomplished 5 dribbles. This exhibits that he was direct, inventive, and thrilling on the prime finish of the pitch.
Tounekti adopted that up together with his first purpose for the membership within the 4-0 win over Partick Thistle within the quarter-finals of the League Cup at Firhill on Sunday, ending nicely after a one-two with Kelechi Iheanacho.
Supporters have taken to him shortly as a result of he has not been afraid to take dangers and make issues occur with the ball at his toes, after three video games and not using a purpose scored for the Hoops previous to his arrival.
While Tounekti already seems like a unbelievable signing for the membership, Celtic should rue shedding a younger expertise final 12 months who was on target to be their homegrown model of the Tunisian star, Rocco Vata.
Why Vata was a homegrown Tounekti for Celtic
Expertise scout Jacek Kulig claimed that the Irish ahead had an “thrilling” future on the membership in 2022, which gave the impression to be a very reasonable prediction to make on the time.
Vata scored 23 targets in 34 matches for Celtic’s B workforce, showcasing his goalscoring potential, and grabbed one purpose in six first-team outings for the Hoops after making the step as much as senior degree, per Transfermarkt.
Sadly, although, the Eire worldwide solely obtained 11 minutes of soccer within the Premiership within the 2023/24 marketing campaign, which led to him opting to depart the membership to hitch Watford on the finish of his contract in the summertime of 2024.
The Hoops solely obtained £237k in compensation for the Irish teenager, who scored 4 targets and supplied 4 assists for the Hornets in his first 12 months in England.
Vata has primarily been utilised as a left-sided winger at Watford, which is the place Tounekti has performed for Celtic, and his performances within the Championship final season had been extremely promising.
24/25 Championship | Rocco Vata per 90 | Percentile rank vs wingers |
|---|---|---|
xG | 0.17 | Prime 43% |
Targets | 0.18 | Prime 42% |
Pictures | 2.53 | Prime 20% |
Assists | 0.24 | Prime 20% |
Touches within the opposition’s field | 4.54 | Prime 25% |
Profitable dribbles | 2.12 | Prime 13% |
Stats by way of FotMob | ||
As you’ll be able to see within the desk above, the 20-year-old expertise ranked nicely amongst his positional friends as a scorer, a creator, and a dribbler, the three issues that Tounekti has been on the left flank for the Hoops thus far.
Vata has additionally created 5 probabilities and registered one help in 107 minutes of Championship soccer, per Sofascore, this season after coming back from harm in August, which additional illustrates his inventive high quality.
These statistics present that he has the potential to be an thrilling participant for supporters to look at as a result of he can present targets, assists, and dribbles on the left flank to get followers out of their seats.
That’s the reason he might have been a homegrown model of Tounekti for Celtic if that they had given him extra alternatives to impress within the first-team at Parkhead, slightly than only one league cameo in his remaining season.
Due to this fact, Celtic should remorse shedding him, significantly given how low the compensation payment was, as a result of they might have had Tounekti and Vata as thrilling choices on the flank.
