Chris Sutton raved about the ability of Celtic winger Oliver Burke but admitted the club had taken a risk by borrowing his services from West Bromwich Albion.
The outspoken pundit heaped praise on the 21-year-old to share that he looks powerful and is clearly hungry to succeed but expressed concern over him being played out position.
Sutton claimed there was a risk factor to recruiting a player like Burke who needed to prove himself and hinted that him playing in a position that’s alien to him wasn’t going to make life easy.
“Celtic are doing things a different way,” said Sutton, as transcribed by the Scottish Sun.
“They’ve gone for Oliver Burke, who a few years ago was going to be the next big thing and I think he has a big point to prove.
“I think he’s hungry, he looks powerful and I know he’s scored a couple of goals, but i know for a fact that position isn’t natural to him.
“At the moment Celtic are bare in that position and Brendan has chucked him in there, which has its risks as there’s a player coming up who wants to prove himself again, but is playing in a position that’s alien to him, so it’s good for him to get some goals.”
OPINION
Sutton clearly believes Burke has the tools to be a success story at Celtic but that it’s now a case of whether he can consistently deliver the goods. The pundit is spot-on with everything he says about the 21-year-old attacker as it is time that he lived up to the hype that once surrounded him. However Sutton is right to suggest that Brendan Rodgers’ current lack of options haven’t made it easy for Burke to succeed in his task to prove himself. While the winger has scored two goals in three outings for the Hoops, which would have given him confidence, Burke needs to keep his good form going at the club. WBA clearly will take him back once his loan deal with the Hoops expire but they will want him to learn plenty in his temporary spell with Celtic in order for him to become an established member of their first team.