Forgotten Celtic midfielder tipped for major future transfer

The Celtic midfield has been under the microscope in recent weeks. Especially since Reo Hatate was injured back in October. Several options have been tried since then by Brendan Rodgers as replacements and after some early struggles, there is one that has managed to stand out from the rest.

Paulo Bernardo has benefitted most with a run of games in the Celtic midfield. That has given him more time to settle, show his ability and claim a couple of important goals too, including in the Glasgow Derby. That has raised suggestions of the Hoops signing him permanently next summer. He is currently on loan from Benfica.

Where does all this leave Odin Thiago Holm? One of the early summer signings, he was brought in from Valerenga and was considered one of Norwegian football's brightest talents, often compared to Martin Odegaard.

Holm has only made a handful of appearances for Celtic since joining though. The last of those was in the disappointing draw with Motherwell at the end of November. While he has had some good performances for the club, he will also be remembered for that red card away at Feyenoord in the Champions League. That perhaps underlined his relative inexperience at the top level.

Celtic midfielder is one for the future

Injuries and perhaps the form of other players have meant that Holm has slipped down the pecking order at Celtic. But at the same time, it is important to remember that he is still only 20 years of age and was always expected to take some time to adjust to life at Parkhead.

It is likely that he is still very much one for the future and has recently gotten the backing of a Norwegian player Celtic fans will be pretty familiar with. As reported by Football Scotland, Patrick Berg said:

"I would say Odin is a good investment and he’ll be worth a lot of money in the future."

Berg also believes that Celtic should not have any problem getting a big transfer fee for the midfielder in the future if he does have a couple of good seasons for the Hoops. He also went on to talk about when he was playing for Bodo/Glimt against Holm, rating the Celtic midfielder highly:

"I played against him a lot of times when he was young in Norway. We could see early on he was an exceptional talent. He broke on to the scene really young. He grew up in Trondheim which has Rosenborg, one of the biggest teams in Norway, but he chose to move to a different club to make his way.

“He did very well there and it was always going to be a matter of time before a big club picked him up. I was really happy for him to get the move to Celtic – it’s a massive club."

With all the focus on other midfielders, Holm has perhaps slipped out of mind as well as the sight for many Celtic fans. There is plenty of competition in the middle of the park right now, and even Tomoko Iwata and David Turnbull both seem closer to a starting place than the Norwegian right now.

This may well prove to be a transitional and learning season for Holm. There is no question about his talent and potential. We have seen glimpses of that already. Now, it is about developing, being patient and taking his opportunities when they come calling