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‘Unacceptable’ Olivier Ntcham form show Celtic were right to sanction January exit

Lee Clarke

Tue 9 March 2021 19:45, UK

Olivier Ntcham departed Celtic during the summer with Marseille signing the French midfielder. It would seem, however, that the move isn’t quite going according to plan.

The 25-year-old started the embarrassing Coupe De France defeat to Canet Roussillon but was hooked at half-time. He was also withdrawn at the same stage of a recent 2-0 defeat to Lille.

Ntcham was ultimately the man responsible for manager Andre Villas-Boas resigning from his role as manager of the Ligue 1 side. He didn’t want the Celtic star signed but the club’s hierarchy pressed ahead with it anyway.

His performance at the weekend was so poor that three different journalists gave him a rating of 1/10 for his efforts. It was the worst of any rating given to a Marseille player and was deemed ‘unacceptable’ by the publication.

Ntcham is facing a fight to redeem himself in the eyes of boss Jorge Sampaoli who must be wondering whether the player is deserving of more game time.

What this does serve to highlight is that Celtic shouldn’t feel too disgruntled that he left Parkhead during the January window.

Ntcham made 14 Premiership appearances for the Hoops during the 2020/21 campaign. Some supporters had questioned the decision to get rid of him but it looks like a wise move.

Shrewd

Celtic recouped and add-ons for the former France under-21 international and it now seems like decent business.

Ismaila Soro has arguably been Celtic’s best performer in an otherwise drab season and as a result, Ntcham’s chances were limited prior to his departure.

Some supporters thought the club might live to rue their decision to offload the ex-Manchester City trainee but that doesn’t look to be the case.

Celtic haven’t got much right on or off the pitch during 2020/21 but deciding to sell Ntcham looks like a positive move.