Why Martin O'Neill must take gamble on unproven Celtic wildcard signing ahead of season-defining run of games
A strong case has been made by a Hoops legend for a late Deadline Day arrival to be pitched straight into the Celtic starting line-up
Frank McAvennie reckons the time could be now for Celtic boss Martin O’Neill to unleash wildcard signing Benjamin Arthur ahead of a make-or-break run of fixtures.
The on-loan Brentford centre-back was one of six mid-season arrivals at Parkhead, joining Julian Araujo, Tomas Cvancara, Junior Adamu and Joel Mvuka, while free agent Alex Oxlade-Chamberlin was snapped up after the January window closed.
New recruit Adamu saved the Hoops’ Scottish Cup dreams by netting a last-gasp goal on his debut to force extra-time against Dundee on Saturday, with Sebastian Tounetki scoring the winner shortly after the restart.
However, rookie defender Arthur - who has earned comparisons to a young Virgil van Dijk - slid completely under the radar after being left out of the matchday squad all together.
And Celtic legend McAvennie believes the towering Englishman, who has made only three senior appearances for the Bees, should be pitched in immediately or run the risk of obscurity similar to Manchester City loan flop Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, who only played only 64 minutes of football during the first half of the campaign having been left out of the club’s Europa League squad.
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Speaking on the Let Me Be Frank podcast, Macca said: “See these players they brought in? They are all good players and you’ve got to get them in the team because we need them.
“In my opinion, we need this boy from Brentford to come into this team because they boys are not good enough at the back, for me. The chances that are getting created against Celtic, I’ve never seen so many. Keeper saves them and because we win, it’s another clean sheet.
“But the chances... a good striker would’ve buried a few of them. We’re getting dominated against teams now. I don’t care how old he is, he’s 6ft 4’, get him in the team.
“If he’s playing for a Premier League club, get him in the team. We brought Van Dijk up, nobody knew who he was and he went straight into the team. He was a colossus.”
Why Celtic should utilise on-loan Brentford defender
Within the space of nine days, Celtic will take on Stuttgart, Rangers twice and Aberdeen away from home in what could be a defining run of games for O’Neill’s men across three different competitions.
Starting the inexperienced Arthur tomorrow evening against Premiership basement boys Livingston would make sense to get some vital minutes into the youngster as he may be called on if regular starters Liam Scales or Auston Trusty pick up an injury.
With mainstay Cameron Carter-Vickers sidelined until next season, and Dane Murray failing to establish himself as an alternative pick, the time could be now for O’Neill to pitch in ex-Peterborough United starlet Arthur, who arrives boasting a solid pedigree.