Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has confirmed that the club have been dealt a crushing hammer blow to their first team with both Eboue Kouassi and Daniel Arzani picking up serious injuries.
The Hoops saw the Australian winger stretchered off in his first appearance for the club against Dundee, while Kouassi was brought off in the first half of the win over Hibernian after starting the clash.
Now Rodgers has confirmed that not one but both have picked up serious cruciate ligament injuries, which usually mean a long spell on the sidelines for players, and revealed how disappointing it was for the club as both were closing in on regular first team action.
He told the club’s official Twitter account: “Unfortunately, it looks like cruciate injuries for both Daniel Arzani and Eboue Kouassi. It’s disappointing for them because they’ve been working hard to get into the team.”
?? BR on injury updates "Unfortunately, it looks like cruciate injuries for both Daniel Arzani and Eboue Kouassi. It's disappointing for them because they've been working hard to get into the team."
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) November 2, 2018
Sky Sports expanded on Rodgers’ revelation over the pair, revealing that the boss stated that Kouassi would be out for the rest of the season.
INJURY NEWS
Brendan Rodgers has confirmed Eboue Kouassi will miss the rest of the season due to a cruciate ligament injury picked up in the win over Hearts at Murrayfield Stadium on Sunday. pic.twitter.com/G3E4kTyGUS
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) November 2, 2018
Opinion
This is absolutely devastating for Celtic, for while the pair might not have been regulars in the starting XI they are both young talents who had plenty to bring to the table. The fact that both of the duo had been making their way into the team of late, Kouassi getting some starts and Arzani finally making his debut, show that Rodgers was ready to give them the action they would have so desperately been seeking but these injury blows are going to keep them watching on from the sidelines for quite some time. The last thing Celtic needed was more injuries to their side after having been decimated by setbacks throughout the season already but the football gods have not been smiling down on the Bhoys this campaign. Now it is time for Rodgers to figure out how best to manage the situation and who is going to fill the void left by the pair, for they could well find themselves without the duo for the rest of the season if the ligament damage is of the most serious nature.