Throughout the January transfer window, speculation has been rife on the Celtic rumour mill that 22 year old attacker, Liel Abada, would definitely be moving on and departing the club at some point this season – or at the very latest, next summer when the 2023/24 campaign comes to a close.
The ten capped Israeli versatile attacker came into Parkhead during the summer of 2021 from Maccabi Petah Tikva, on a five year contract with his transfer fee being widely reported as being in the region of £3.5 million.
In fairness, he turned into a pretty decent capture for us, and his playing record to date reads 66 starts, with 46 additional showings as a substitute, with a return of 29 goals and a number of other additional assists, across all competitions, and although he would never have figured too highly in football corner betting tips, he would have naturally featured in many odds categories.
Following his initial performances for us, the player agreed a new, and improved, four year deal during the summer as it was apparent that there was very strong interest in his services from other clubs, however, his game time this season has been far more minimal and that has been reflected in his over all goal contributions this term. This has unfortunately been due to both the injuries he has been dealing with, and off pitch issues that have been very well covered elsewhere.
With the European transfer window long closed, the more favoured option for many in the press when it came to his next destination was Major League Soccer over in the United States, and, of course, last night he confirmed his move, for a fee in the region of £8million, to MLS side Charlotte FC.
The formalities have been completed , a four-year contract has been signed and the tricky, goalscoring winger will now team up with former Premier League gaffer Dean Smith, who has previously had spells with both Aston Villa and Leicester City.
If the transfer fee is correct, it obviously represents quite an uplift and a sizeable profit on the player when compared to our original outlay, and manager Brendan Rodgers will certainly be hoping that he gets a significant chunk of that money to bolster his future summer budget.
Rodgers did address the off pitch issues last month when talking about the likelihood of the 22 year old moving for personal reasons, and he has of course, not featured since the 2-1 victory over Hibernian at Easter Road back on February 7, with the gaffer commenting at the point that he ‘wasn’t in the right frame of mind’ to feature for the team.
Having played such a starring role in Ange Postecoglou’s treble-winning success last season, this was not going to be how the future played out for anyone, but sometimes it is not to be, and most certainly not in our hands.
It certainly will not have been the future he was imagining, but although he may have some mixed feelings given the backdrop here, he will no doubt definitely have appreciated the good reception he received personally when making his return to the pitch after his more recent injury lay off.
Abada emphasised the fact by taking to Instagram to thank the fans for their support during a difficult time and now his future is with the North Carolina team in the MLS.
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