Celtic: Neil Lennon had a nightmare when signing Ismaila Soro | OneFootball

When Celtic completed the £2m signing of Ismaila Soro on a four-and-a-half-year deal back in the January of 2020, expectations for the defensive midfielder were high at Parkhead.

Indeed, Neil Lennon appeared to be particularly excited about the arrival of the Ivorian, with the then-Bhoys boss stating of the 23-year-old: “It will be good. He is a good player – strong, technically very good, quick across the ground, hungry. We have done a lot of work on him.”

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Meanwhile, Soro himself suggested that Celtic would be gaining a talent in the mould of the Chelsea and France star N’Golo Kante, with the midfielder stating of his playing style:

“If you’re looking for someone I model myself on, or who I really like as a player, then it’s N’Golo Kante. I watch nearly all of his games and he’s a top player in that position. His level is really something I want to achieve – if I can.”

However, two years down the line, Soro has started just 18 games for the Hoops – making a further 25 appearances from the bench – with the £810k-rated midfielder having failed to ever fully establish himself as a part of the Celtic starting XI – something which has partly down to a recurring knee injury, but primarily due to his generally underwhelming performances on the pitch.

Indeed, over the £12.5k-per-week man’s 19 Premiership appearances last season, the 23-year-old averaged a SofaScore match rating of 6.92, ranking him as the Hoops’ 15th-worst performer in the league.

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Things have not improved for the player Ori Guttman once dubbed “explosive” in the current campaign either, as, over his eight league outings under the management of Postecoglou, the midfielder has averaged an even more disappointing SofaScore match rating of 6.59, ranking him as Celtic’s fourth-worst player in the division.

As such, it is perhaps not surprising that the Bhoys were reportedly willing to sanction the departure of the Ivorian this winter, as, with his Transfermarkt valuation now being 60% lower than the £2m fee Celtic paid for his services back in 2020, as well as the midfielder having so far cost the club £1.4m in wages in the 109 weeks he spent at Parkhead, it is clear that Lennon’s signing of Soro has proven to be something of a transfer nightmare.