Celtic manager makes surprise midfielder admission

Celtic have recently completed the signing of Aaron Mooy on a free transfer, after he departed Shanghai Port. The Hoops were linked with a move for the Australian international last summer as well but it failed to transpire. This time around, they have gotten their man. The move has raised the eyebrows of a number of supporters though.

Celtic needed to bring in a defensive midfielder this summer, following the departure of Nir Bitton at the end of last season. While the Israeli international was not a regular starter for the Hoops, he was an important member of the squad and was brought in to see out games regularly.

Also, with the club set to come up against some very tough opposition in the Champions League group stages, they could definitely do with a midfield enforcer. But they have gone in a different direction by bringing in Mooy instead.

It looks like Ange Postecoglou does not believe that a physical midfielder is a good fit for his style of football. As reported by Football Scotland, when asked about it, the manager said:

"“Nah, it’s not my style. Our role is to dominate games in a collective sense. Blackburn are a big, physical team, but in the first half I thought we played really well and handled them no problem.“When we are playing our football and moving the ball around, we don’t need to rely on that side of the game.“We have players who can be physical in their own way.”"

Postecoglou’s midfielder admission explains Celtic’s move for Mooy

Thus, it is pretty clear that Postecoglou is not looking for a midfielder who can break up play and physically dominate the opposition.

Instead, it looks like the void left behind by Bitton will be filled in by Mooy, who is more of a complete midfielder, who can do a bit of everything.

It will be very interesting to see how the Australian international does. He has some solid Premier League experience under his belt and has also played in Scotland in the past, for St Mirren. But at the same time, he is set to turn 32 years of age and spent the past two years of his career playing in China. Thus, this move could turn out to be a big hit or a massive flop for the Hoops.