Some Celtic fans are delighted to see Eboue Kouassi back playing football, as the midfielder returned to action for the club’s Reserves side.
Kouassi hasn’t seen first-team football for a while now at the Glasgow club, but the Ivorian was part of the club’s Under-23s side which took on the Motherwell Reserves side in the SPFL Reserves Cup last night.
He started in midfield, with another outcast in Jack Hendry also started at centre-back. Young Karomoko Dembele also started in the forward position. The game saw the Hoops’ Reserves side get held to a 1-1 draw.
Celtic fans: Should Kouassi play first-team football soon?
Yes, he should
HE should take his time
Some Celtic fans are delighted to see Kouassi start in the game and are hailing the moment as a comeback.
Our starting XI for group game four of the #SPFL Reserve Cup!
Follow #CelticFCAcademy for updates, kick-off in an hour…
Come on the Hoops! pic.twitter.com/a5rJWRg3W8
— Celtic FC Academy (@CelticFCAcademy) December 2, 2019
The king is back pic.twitter.com/02zzDzOta3
— Jamie Costello (@Jamiec128) December 2, 2019
Must be the reason I’m Eboue Kouassi
— MB (@melbourne88) December 2, 2019
Kouassi comeback story begins
— Kieran McGrady (@Kieran_McGrady) December 2, 2019
@KieranBryan1888 King Kouassi is back
— (@YungCamboX) December 2, 2019
@michael19648846 EBOUEEEEE
— dunçan (@Duncan_Gassner) December 2, 2019
There’s 0 reason this team should be losing, some amazing young talent such as jack hendry and eboue kouassi
— Stuart Tawse (@Stuarttawse1888) December 2, 2019
Kouassi, who is valued at £675k (Transfermarkt), joined the Hoops from Russian sign Krasnodar in the winter of 2017 for an undisclosed fee, as he penned a four-year deal at the club.
So far this season, the Ivorian is yet to feature in the club’s first-team and his last appearance for the side came against Hearts in a League Cup game last season. He missed the remainder of the season due to an ACL injury, making only three appearances in all competitions last season.
In the 2017-18 campaign, the defensive midfielder featured 12 times in all competitions for the Bhoys. He had one assist to his name. In total, he has played 22 times for the club since joining from Russia.
What do we think?
The Under-23s involvement against Motherwell shows that Kouassi is coming close to fitness at the club and is nearing first-team football once again. But since it is his first game after the come back from injury, he might take time to settle in and get going again. Ideally, he should be doing that too.
As things stand, Callum McGregor and Scott Brown are the regular midfielders in the double pivot of Neil Lennon’s 4-2-3-1 shape. The club has been linked with a move for Victor Wanyama in an attempt to increase depth in that defensive midfield zone, meaning Kouassi should hurry up and get back to fitness as soon as possible, or he might be heading out of the exit door.