It wasn’t too long ago that Celtic officially announced the signing that would bring Marvin Compper to Glasgow. Just about a half a month in for the new defender, and Compper has already suffered a setback.
The Bhoys are currently training in Dubai where they learned that the new center-back will be out for at least a month. Various reports suggest that the injury had something to do with Compper’s calf.
It’s a major drawback for the Celts and especially Brendan Rodgers, who guaranteed the German starting minutes for the rest of the campaign. Now Erik Sviatchenko has been temporarily shipped out on loan, leaving a big void right in the heart of the back-line.
Celtic will likely have to go back to stage one with their transfer plan in defense. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Hoops go after one of their more desired targets, maybe Jack Hendry, especially since depth is looking very questionable.
The Bhoys could probably get away with their defense the way it is now, but Europa League competition against Zenit will be rather stiff with the back-line missing Compper. Jozo Simunovic and Kristoffer Ajer are good, but the defense gets pretty depleted after those two.
Rodgers didn’t really comment on the injury too much, but still noted that the 32-year-old has already made a huge impression on the boss in such a short period of time. Vital Football notes Rodgers’ comments in their recent piece when he says:
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"“He was unfortunate that he got injured when he was out there, so we will have to wait and see how long that’s going to be,” manager Brendan Rodgers confirmed to BBC Scotland. “It looks like it could be three to four weeks.“That’s unfortunate, but he has settled into the squad well,” he added. “Marvin has gelled very well.”"
There’s a lot of uncertainty lingering around Celtic Park at the moment. Nobody knows what’s next for the central defense, and domestic play kicks up again soon with the Scottish Cup clash against Brechin on the 20th of January.
Next: Celtic loaning another player to St. Mirren
How much of an impact will Compper’s injury have on Celtic? Let us know in the comments section below.