Why it
makes sense
For the
player
He was
unemployed and will now get the chance to play on a team that might qualify for the
Champions League. Even forgetting the European angle, his last club
were Wolves and now he’s at Celtic. While they were in the Premier League the
Molineaux support may have argued they were a bigger club solely because they
played in the world’s richest league. Now that they’ve slipped into League One
there is no doubt. He’s made a tremendous step up on his last employers.
For the
club
The
disintegration of Effe Ambrose after January last season must have sent alarm
bells ringing in Neil Lennon’s head. Ambrose and Kelvin Wilson were completely
solid as a partnership up to that point but football is littered with tales of
footballers who inexplicably lose form and never get it back. Ambrose getting
no time to rest over the summer will also be of concern. The club released
Thomas Rogne in the summer and have brought in Virgil van Dijk. The Dutchman
lacks experience in years and in British football and the signing of Mouyokolo adds
insurance if the 22-year old from Groningen
doesn’t pan out.
Celtic have
cashed in heavily on their Victor Wanyama investment and they appear ready to
do the same with Gary Hooper. Before his move to Wolves, Mouyokolo had the
potential not only to shine in the bottom half of the Premier League but
attract the interest of the country’s (and world’s) biggest clubs. He’s fast, strong in the
air and a great tackler, and if he can recapture his previous form with Hull then the club have a player of a higher pedigree than
Wilson.
Why it
doesn’t
For the
club
All the
‘ifs’ are based around the horrendous injury problems that the player has
suffered since making the move to Wolves. At this point he will provide the role
of backup at Celtic
Park. The image of a
back-up player is someone dependable, particularly at centre back. He cannot be
dependable if he isn’t fit and he hasn’t been for three years. In that time he
has played only 11 times and Celtic may just have brought in a permanent
member of their treatment room.
For the
player
Should
Ambrose recapture the form of early last season then there will be little
chance for either Mouyokolo or van Dijk to break into the team, and when there
is it’ll likely be van Dijk who’ll get the nod with his rumoured £2.5million
price tag giving management that extra incentive to favour him. Now this may
sound a little left-field, but if a footballer had managed only 11 games in
three years then surely the first thing they’d want to do after getting fit was
play football? There will be token appearances here and there and even that
will depend on the Champions League. The longer he doesn’t play consistently
the harder it will be to rediscover the abilities that made him a highly sought
after in 2010.
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