Some Celtic fans have expressed their delight about the return to fitness of defender Hatem Abd Elhamed and it was confirmed in a recent post by the club’s Twitter account.
The Israeli defender hasn’t featured for the club’s first-team due to injury since the month of November. In total, he has missed as many as 11 games for the side, as he was out due to a muscle injury.
Young Jeremie Frimpong has been playing regularly due to Elhamed’s absence, with Christopher Jullien and Kristofer Ajer also playing constantly at centre-back.
Celtic fans: Should Elhamed play regularly?
He deserves to play
We have Frimpong
Some Celtic fans are raving about the defender on having spotted him in a club tweet recently, which appeared to be directed at Tom Rogic instead.
Who cares about Rogic, ELHAMED
— Decky?? (@Deckyy67) January 5, 2020
9 in a row confirmed pic.twitter.com/ABvKAuolV0
— Aidan Ritchie (@AidanRitchie27) January 5, 2020
Looking forward to the return of Hatem Abd Elhamed. We have missed his strength, reading of the game, experience and versatility.
— Gerard Byrne (@LorenzoJefe) January 5, 2020
Elhamed is running, thank the Lord
— Kevin C (@kevbhoy25) January 5, 2020
Hatem
— Liam (@liamcsc) January 5, 2020
Hatem is back!!!!!!
— Äñdrêw MçPhåïl (@AndyBoi1888) January 5, 2020
The 28-year-old defender is a very versatile defender, who is capable of playing at centre-back and at right-back as well. Before succumbing to the injury back in November, he had made a total of 13 appearances in all competitions for the Hoops. During that time, he had played nine times at right-back, also featuring four times at the centre-back spot.
The Bhoys had signed the Israel international this past summer from Hapoel Be’er Sheva for a reported fee of about £1.6million.
For Be’er Sheva last season, Elhamed had been a regular in the defence. He had made 27 appearances in all competitions for the club, scoring three. Twenty of those appearances had come from the centre-back position, with four coming from right-back and he also played at left-back two times.
What do we think?
Elhamed can be a crucial player for Celtic as the season wears on. His versatility is a key part of what sort of player he is and will be a very good option, if Frimpong is out injured or when one of the central defenders are out. He is experienced and knows what it takes to win trophies, having won the Israeli League title in the 2017-18 season.