MARCELO SARACCHI CELTIC MOVE DOESN’T MEAN INAMURA EXIT
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- 5 hours ago
- 3 min read
It looks as if finally, after much angst and, at times very public, expressions of discontent from the Celtic manager and the fans, Brendan Rodgers is finally getting some of the players he wants.
The latest incoming arrival is 27-year-old Uruguayan left back Marcelo Saracchi. According to multiple sources today, Celtic will take the defender on a season long loan, with the option to make the deal permanent for around 2 million pounds next summer.
I’ve expressed my opposition to loan deals before, but so long as they include an option to buy, then I think this represents a good bit of business.
Inamura Utility Means he Still Has Role to Play Even if Marcelo Saracchi Celtic Deal Goes Through
Saracchi has experience of playing in Europe. After joining RB Leipzig in 2018, he went on to play for Galatasaray in Turkey, and then Levante in Spain. This, hopefully sets him aside from our previous South American signing Alexandro Bernabei, whose lack of European experience ultimately meant he never quite settled in Scotland.
The big question Saracchi’s arrival brings with it though, is “What does this mean for Hayato Inamura?”
Brendan Rodgers went public last week with his belief that Inamura wasn’t yet “first team ready”. He then seemed to somewhat contradict himself when he went ahead and played the Japanese youngster for the full 90 minutes against Livingston at the weekend.
Rodgers later clarified his comments to say that Inamura is “ok for games where we have 70 or 80% of possession. But he’s not ready yet for games where we will be under pressure.”
So, in other words, Inamura is perfectly fine for about 90% of our domestic games in Scotland.
The signing of Saracchi, assuming it goes through in the next 48 hours or so as we are led to believe it will, appears to close the door on any more first team action for Inamura anytime soon.
Or does it?
Remember, this is a player who was not signed to play as a left back. He simply ended up there after the manager was impressed with what he showed in pre-season training.
Inamura is a Center Back, who has been assigned the role of left-back out of necessity, much in the same that I have always maintained that Daizen Maeda is a center forward. We simply used him as a left winger because that’s where he was most effective considering the other players, we had available at the time.
We have two left-sided center backs in Liam Scales and Auston Trusty. However, long term doubts remain about Trusty’s fitness. Additionally, we will have two international quality left backs in Kieran Tierney and Marcelo Saracchi, when he signs.
Again, though, all it needs is one injury and suddenly the squad can look a little threadbare. Inamura’s ability to deputize at SPFL level for any of the 4 players mentioned above means he deserves to stay at Celtic.
Even if he only played 10 games or so between now and the end of the season, that would do more for his development than going out on loan to another Scottish club.
Training alongside and learning from players like Tierney is what will ultimately make or break Inamura as a Celtic player. He showed enough on Saturday to suggest he warrants a place in the first team squad, regardless of who else comes in.
