Leigh Griffiths’ former teammate Ben Williams has backed the Celtic striker to get back to his very best and insisted he could save the Hoops millions of pounds upon his return to action.
The Scotland international was granted personal leave by the Glasgow side back at the end of 2018, his last game for the Bhoys coming in the middle of December.
Having sat out the second half of the club’s third successive treble winning campaign, Williams, who played with Griffiths at Hibernian, has been raving over the hitman and tipped him to make a big impact, including on how the club conduct their transfer business.
He told the Daily Record: “Leigh is proven at Celtic already and has been a consistent top performer in the Premiership since our time at Hibs six years ago. I’d definitely back him to perform to that level again under a manager who knows him well.
“Alongside another good striker in Edouard it would save Celtic millions in finding a potential replacement of his ability. He is a natural striker, on form one of the best I’ve played with. He loves scoring and has that clinical, selfish ability strikers need.
“Sparky is a great guy to have in the dressing room. He gives everybody a lift because of how he can win you a game from nothing Once he’s back playing you’ll be able to tell immediately how much he has missed it when he bangs in his next goal for Celtic as his celebration will speak volumes.”
Opinion
There is an awful lot of excitement building around Griffiths’ return to playing but there must not be too much pressure placed on the shoulders of the striker. Yes, he has proven he is a quality forward in the past but who knows what sort of impact the last six months have had on him. He is finally back in training and targeting a comeback in pre-season but will he have lost his golden touch? Williams does not seem to think that to be the case and if he can save Neil Lennon from going out and bolstering their forward line with some fresh blood, then brilliant. They might be the reigning champions but Celtic are not flushed with cash and so any savings that can be made means money to be spent elsewhere in the squad. The aim is surely to improve on the European stage and with his international experience, Griffiths will be expected to make an impact. Only time will tell whether he can live up to the expectation but if he can get anywhere close to his form of old then Celtic will be delighted.