Celtic have already sold an “incredible” Taylor replacement

It is set to be all change this 12 months by way of left-backs at Celtic for Brendan Rodgers.

Neither of the Hoops’ present gamers in that place are contracted to the membership past 30 June, extra on each shortly, whereas an area hero is poised to return to Parkhead.

Nonetheless, did Celtic let go the very best left-back of all of them for simply £39k, after he by no means made a aggressive look for the membership?

The newest on Greg Taylor’s future at Celtic

Following Saturday’s 3-0 victory over Hearts, supervisor Rodgers admitted that left-back Greg Taylor is prone to depart the membership upon the expiration of his contract in June, stating “it’s most likely extra probably now that Greg will transfer on than keep”.

Rodgers added “we all know we’ll have to have another person if Greg strikes on… which is a giant disgrace for me as a result of I really like him”.

Davorin Olivari of Croatian outlet Jutarnji Checklist has beforehand reported that GNK Dinamo Zagreb have ‘despatched a proposal’ to Taylor, looking for to snap him up on a free switch, with this his most-likely vacation spot in the meanwhile.

In the meantime, Jeffrey Schlupp has usurped Taylor within the pecking order, beginning the final 4 Premiership matches, in addition to the away leg in Munich, albeit the Ghanian worldwide’s future is up within the air too, provided that he is solely on mortgage from Crystal Palace.

Regardless, Kieran Tierney is ready to begin subsequent season as Celtic’s first alternative, having reportedly agreed to rejoin his boyhood membership on a Bosman from Arsenal.

After all, Tierney is undeniably a followers’ favorite in Glasgow, and his return will deliver with it a lot fanfare as soon as it’s introduced, however did Celtic promote an much more spectacular left-back for simply £39k?

Celtic’s forgotten former left-back on fireplace in MLS

Again in January 2019, Celtic signed a 22-year-old defender by the identify of Andrew Gutman from Indiana Hoosiers, after the American had been on trial at fierce rivals Rangers.

Gutman mentioned he was “actually honoured” to make the transfer, including “I can’t wait to hitch Celtic and be a part of such a storied establishment.”

Properly, sadly for Gutman, he didn’t play a lot of a component, by no means making a aggressive look in hoops, loaned out to each Charlotte Independence of USL League One after which FC Cincinnati in Main League Soccer, earlier than transferring completely to MLS outfit Atlanta United for less than $50,000 (£39k) in Normal Allocation Cash in March 2021.

Since then, Gutman has quite bounced round MLS, spending time at each New York Crimson Bulls after which Colorado Rapids, earlier than becoming a member of the Chicago Fireplace forward of the beginning of the 2024 season.

Again in his residence state of Illinois, Gutman has actually checked out residence underneath Gregg Berhalter this season, scoring throughout victories over each FC Dallas and Toronto, incomes rave opinions, together with from Felipe Cárdenas of the Athletic, who labels him ‘unimaginable’.

So, let’s assess how his statistics evaluate to Taylor.

Because the desk outlines, throughout a equally sized pattern measurement, Gutman’s performances in MLS are just like these of Taylor within the Premiership, with the American truly popping out on high relating to most defensive metrics.

Additionally price noting that, in accordance with International Soccer Rankings, Main League Soccer is the ninth strongest division on the planet, with the Premiership down in thirty fourth place.

So, maybe letting Gutman depart for a small charge was a mistake, as he might’ve been an improve on Taylor had he been given a chance, particularly contemplating Transfermakt consider his present market worth to be round £586k, round 15 occasions greater than he was offered for.