Celtic might have their hands on another winner, as Sead Haksabanovic is looking like a player and a half. The Montenegro international did take some time to get up to match speed, as a result of missing pre-season, but now, he is already looking like one of the most impressive players at the club and Ange Postecoglou might have a tough time keeping him out of the starting XI if he keeps on performing like this.
Haksabanovic had put in a brilliant display vs RB Leipzig in midweek and was without doubt Celtic’s best creative outlet on that night. And he followed up that with an electric performance in the first 45 minutes vs Hibernian, setting up the opener and being instrumental throughout.
Surprisingly, Haksabanovic was taken off at half-time though, sparking fears that he had picked up an injury as well. And with the current luck that Celtic have had, it would not have been any surprise.
But it looks like the change was pre-cautionary and somewhat pre-meditated, more than anything. As reported by The Herald, Ange Postecoglou told Celtic TV:
"“He had a bit of an ankle issue going into the game but he was really keen to play.“Once the game was sort of done we took him off after 45-minutes.”"
Celtic boss has explained why Haksabanovic was taken off at half-time vs Hibernian
It is good to see that it does not seem that Haksabanovic picked up any injury vs Hibernian and hopefully, he will be available moving forward as well.
While Celtic have seemed to struggle for ideas and inspiration in recent weeks, Haksabanovic has been one of the few players who has continued to perform at a high level. Let’s hope that it continues moving forward.
Of course, one needs to be careful about this situation as well. Jota was subbed off at half-time against St Johnstone recently with what was thought to be fatigue. Yet, we are yet to see the Portuguese winger even make the bench since then.