Should Celtic Sell Logan Bailly In The Summer?
Celtic have continued their dominance in the domestic scenes in Scotland this season. Brendan Rodgers’ side have already won the Scottish Premiership title and the Scottish League Cup and stand a chance to complete a domestic treble when they take on Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup finals. And what more, the Bhoys have been unbeaten throughout the season in all domestic competitions and look primed to finish it that way.
While they will be expected to stay the dominant force that they are in Scotland for next season as well, Rodgers’ biggest task for the upcoming campaign will be to take Celtic further in the UEFA Champions League. There will be plenty of activity expected in the transfer market from the former Liverpool manager, as he would look to strengthen his roster. While there may be some players coming in, there are good chances that some of the fringe players heading for the exit doors.
One such player whose future is uncertain for the next season is goalkeeper Logan Bailly. The 31-year old who was signed in the summer of 2015 by former manager Ronny Deila from OHL Leuven, had been frozen out of the squad this season upon the arrival of Dorus de Vries from Nottingham Forest in the summer.
Bailly, this season, hasn’t made a single competitive appearance. The last time he played for the Bhoys was in the pre-season in a 1-0 win over Sturm Graz in Austria, before injuring his ankle, which ruled him out for the start of the season. With Craig Gordon and De Vries available, he had been left out in the cold. However, he did return to the first-team squad in March, as the stand-by option for Gordon, when De Vries was ruled out of action, due to an ankle problem that needed a surgery.
The 31-year old Belgian had a chance to leave Celtic earlier in March when Raith Rovers came calling to solve their goalkeeper crisis. But Bailly refused to leave and stayed put at the Parkhead mainly because he did not want to drop to the Championship.
Since his move two years back, Bailly has just made 5 first-team appearances for Celtic and has managed to keep two clean sheets. At 31, he still has a lot to offer to the team in the future. With the 36-year old De Vries not getting any younger, it would be beneficial for Celtic to have someone younger within their ranks who would be ready to fill in when needed.
However, things are not looking great at the moment for Bailly in terms of first-team football and with Rodgers trusting De Vries to continue performing, Celtic might be better off letting the Belgian go in the summer and instead, blood someone younger as the third-choice goalkeeper in the squad.