Why Rodgers Must brutally Cash In On Celtic’s £2.9 Million Man sucking the club dry and played less than Palma

Celtic head coach Brendan Rodgers received strong support from the board during the recent summer transfer window, with the club breaking their transfer record for the Northern Irishman.

To improve their midfield options, the Hoops agreed to pay a club record £11 million to recruit central midfielder Arne Engels from Bundesliga club Augsburg.

Adam Idah, Paulo Bernardo, Viljami Sinisalo, Kasper Schmeichel, Alex Valle, Auston Trusty, and Luke McCowan were also added to the roster to provide depth.

The new recruits have pushed several players to the edges of the group, including Luis Palma, who has struggled for playing time this season.

Luis Palma’s struggles at Celtic

The Honduran international joined the Scottish giants from Greek side Aris in the summer of 2023, where he had a promising rookie season.

Palma showed lots of promise in the Scottish Premiership season 2023/24, scoring seven goals and assisting nine times in 28 games.

Unfortunately, the 24-year-old forward has failed to persuade Rodgers that he deserves a place in the starting lineup ahead of Daizen Maeda on the left flank, and he has only played 37 minutes in the league this season.

The Honduran star, who scored two goals in the Champions League last season, has demonstrated that he has the ability to be a crucial player for the Hoops if he can rediscover his previous form, though, so there may still be a future for him at Parkhead.

Rodgers should get rid of central midfielder Odin Thiago Holm, who has played even fewer minutes than Palma.

Why Celtic should cash in on Odin Thiago Holm

It was claimed that the Hoops paid £2.6 million to capture the central midfielder from Valerenga on a permanent basis in the summer of 2023.

The 21-year-old flop reportedly earns £4.8k per week – £250k each season – bringing his total earnings to over £300k since joining the team last year.

What have Celtic received in exchange for the £2.9 million they have spent on Holm thus far? He has one goal and one assist in 16 matches across all competitions, although he has only started two league games in total, both of which occurred last season.

As shown in the table above, only Yang, Johnston (who has since left the club), and academy graduate Francis Turley have played less minutes in the league this season.

Celtic have signed Engels, McCowan, and Bernardo in his position, in addition to Callum McGregor and Reo Hatate, and Holm has yet to make a league matchday squad since Engels and McCowan joined on deadline day.

At 21, he is the same age as the Belgian starlet and one year younger than Bernardo, which does not indicate that his progress will cause him to outgrow them – they are already ahead of him at a similar age.

As a result, Rodgers must mercilessly remove Holm from the team and cash in on him during the January transfer window, after spending £2.9 million on him thus far.