Celtic target Gvidas Gineitis has concerned some Torino fans after a disappointing performance this week, according to reports in Italy. The ongoing Celtic midfield target came reasonably close to arriving at Parkhead in the summer after weeks of talks.
The Hoops were intending to strike an agreement with Torino before agreeing personal terms, but they never managed that first step, coming up short of the Serie A club's asking price.
Celtic made advances with talks late in the transfer window, but they ultimately fell short and were left short in midfield, failing to replace star man Arne Engels.
The Bhoys may well circle back for Gineitis in the winter window, but for now, the midfielder is getting on with life in Turin. Torino are down in 14th after a disappointing start to the season, and it got no better on Monday night.
They lost 2-0 to AS Roma, and after going in at the break one down, manager Ignazio Abate took Gineitis off at half-time and, according to ToroNews, he was left in the locker room at half-time.
Daniel Bragança, who joined Torino in the summer, perhaps amid the expectation that Gineitis would leave, came on in the place of the Celtic target and enjoyed a much better second half, although Roma did go on to score a second and win the game.
The performance won't be of great concern for Celtic, should they still be tracking Gineitis as reported. Ultimately, the Bhoys are not playing teams as good as Roma every week, and bad performances are going to happen here and there.
What we do know is that Celtic are undoubtedly short in the middle of the park, still without a dominant holding midfielder who can also carry the ball up the pitch, and that is costing them in big games against good teams.
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