Liel Abada sends emotional message to Celtic teammate

Liel Abada enjoyed a very good first season at Celtic, especially considering the fact that he is still just 20 years of age and would be expected to only get better moving forward. He started the campaign brilliantly but his form appeared to fade away a bit later on. Also, with Daizen Maeda arriving, he found playing time a bit harder to come by after January but overall, he was involved in the first-team picture throughout.

According to stats from Transfermarkt, Abada scored 15 goals and provided 11 assists in 54 appearances for Celtic across all competitions. He also played 3295 minutes of football, meaning he averaged a goal contribution every 127 minutes or so. Exceptional for a winger.

One player who seemed to help Abada in settling in at the club is Nir Bitton, his Israel international teammate.

Bitton brought the curtain down on his nine-year Celtic career this season though and is after a new challenge. Abada decided to take the opportunity to send him a message. As reported by 67 Hail Hail, while speaking with Sport 5, he said:

"“The ceremony they did for Nir was very exciting, I was excited for him. Beyond the footballer, Nir and his family took care of me and did everything for me and I really like them.“He’s made an amazing way at Celtic, he’s the Israeli who’s achieved the most titles. I learned a lot from him and I wish him luck.“His next team? I can’t really recommend it to him. He’ll do what’s right for him. I wish him all the best in the world.”"

Abada sends emotional message to departing Celtic teammate

Bitton had been at Celtic since 2013 and even though he might not have always been a regular starter for the club, he remained an important member of the squad. Even under the management of Postecoglou, he continued to get minutes off the bench on a regular basis.

It is believed that Celtic wanted to hand him a contract extension but Bitton was looking for a new challenge. And it is not hard to understand why. He is still just 30 years of age and might not be keen on spending the rest of his career playing the bench role.

It is great to see the impact that he had on the likes of Abada, who hopefully will have a very successful career at Celtic as well. And moving forward, we can only wish Bitton the best of luck and hope he succeeds wherever he goes after this.