A few weeks back I wrote an article discussing why I thought Celtic’s loan move for Oliver Burke was a bit of an odd one.

I feel it’s only right that I also point out that I believe that the loan signing of Timothy Weah could be a real coup for the Scottish Premiership champions.

Now there’s no way that Celtic will be able to sign the gifted teen on a permanent basis but the PSG whizkid might have enough about him to bring the feel good factor back to Parkhead for the remainder of the season.

In the first half of the campaign, Celtic weren’t as exciting as they’ve been in previous years. They looked more vulnerable than they’ve done previously. They were knocked out of the Champions League in the qualifying stages, they endured a difficult and uninspiring summer transfer window, had lost four Premiership games before the turn of the year and that included a defeat to rivals Rangers.

It should be noted that even with this lull in form, Celtic still captured the League Cup (their seventh trophy in a row under Brendan Rodgers), are still top of the league table with a game in hand, have the best goal difference in Scotland’s top tier and are still in the Europa League.

Most teams would give their right arm for that kind of disappointing start to a season!

Yet it did seem to be a bit gloomy at Celtic Park as 2019 arrived.

The arrival of Weah, albeit on a temporary basis, could really bring back the sunny outlook for Rodgers and the Celtic faithful.

After selling Moussa Dembele late on in August, Celtic were short in the forward areas. That was significantly amplified when Scottish international attacker Leigh Griffiths went on a leave of absence. It was left to hitman Odsonne Edouard to carry the load, with help from James Forrest and Scott Sinclair.

The US internationalist comes in and gives the Hoops team a new attacking option.

Weah made his debut yesterday, coming off the bench to grab his first goal in the Scottish Cup tie against Airdrie.

The eighteen year old took his goal with aplomb!

Belgian centre-back Dedryck Boyata played a sublime pass that cut through The Diamonds defence, Tim showed great awareness and pace to latch onto the through ball and hit it expertly first time to beat the onrushing goalie.

The goal might have been against a lower league side but it showed us that the young striker has the tools needed to be very effective in front of goal.

? The Pass

? The Pace

? A goal on your debut

Welcome to Celtic Park Timothy Weah ??#ScottishCup pic.twitter.com/YxWYKfkdD1

— Premier Sports ? (@PremierSportsTV) January 19, 2019

Tim Weah does look to be an extraordinary talent and the pedigree to go all the way!

He was fast-tracked into the PSG senior set-up and to be honest he didn’t look out of place whenever he appeared for the Ligue 1 champs. The problem is that his appearances were sparse due to a frontline of Edinson Cavani, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar. That trio are all world class and in their last outing they helped Les Parisians to a 9-0 win over Guingamp, with the forwards sharing eight of those goals between them.

Weah has also won eight caps for the United States national team, scoring against Bolivia back in May.

We should also acknowledge that his father is one George Weah, The current President of Liberia was a superstar striker who had successful spells with AS Monaco, PSG and AC Milan in his heyday, winning the Ballon d’Or in the process.

Timothy looks to have a lot of the attributes needed to become a top class talent and that will excite his Hoops teammates and the Celtic faithful.

Bringing a great prospect, that could be on the cusp of wonderful things could rejuvenate Celtic’s outlook as they carry on and try and secure yet another league title.

The young ambitious hitman seems happy that he’s in Glasgow and working under a talented coach in Brendan Rodgers (from the Daily Record):

“The gaffer made it really easy.

“He told me what I need to do and to work hard an anything is possible.”

“Celtic is the right place, the history, the fans, it’s a place I want to score more goals.

“The guys here are amazing and it felt really good.”

It might just be the start of a temporary stay but Timothy Weah at least gives Celtic another versatile option for the forward areas and the Scottish champions needed that.

If he can fulfil some of his vast potential in the next six months, then he could be the catalyst to another treble winning party in Glasgow’s east-end come May!

 

Posted on January 21st, 2019 by scott
Filed under: Article