Championship side Stoke City can recall Celtic defender Moritz Bauer from his ongoing loan spell at Parkhead soon, as per the Stoke Sentinel.
The report claims that new Stoke manager Michael O’Neil isn’t really satisfied by the options he has at the back and he could consider bringing Bauer back to add depth and quality to the defensive positions.
The manner in which the right-back has been used sporadically could prompt the Potters to recall him, even though he did start the Hoops’ Europa League clash against Rennes. He helped his side pick up a 3-1 win over the French visitors in Glasgow.
Can Celtic afford to let Bauer go?
Yes, they can
No, they can't
Not a regular under Lennon
Bauer, who is valued at £2.25 million (Transfermarkt), arrived in Scotland this past summer from the Potters on a temporary loan deal after he had failed to break into their Championship side last season.
This season, he has also not managed to do the make an impact in the Hoops first-team. He has featured only seven times in all competitions under Neil Lennon this season, with young Jeremie Frimpong and Hatem Abd Elhamed currently seeming to be Lennon’s preferences in that position.
At Stoke last season, Bauer had not impressed much either. He played only 12 times for the club’s first-team and eight of them came in the Championship. He also featured for the Under-23s side, playing four times in the Premier League 2.
He had arrived at the Bet365 Stadium from Rubin Kazan in the winter of 2018 for an undisclosed fee. The Austrian international had been a regular in the second half of the Premier League season of 2017-18, featuring as many as 14 times for the club.
TIF Tactics
Former Man City man Frimpong’s rise to prominence has been very much unexpected. He arrived from the English Champions and has played six times in all competitions, scoring once and two assists for the club.
He has been very productive going forward and his emergence has pushed Bauer further down the pecking order. If O’Neil really feels the need to bolster his defensive options, he could well come back for him if he has plans for the Austrian.