Pundit Kevin McGuire has recently compared Diego Laxalt to former Celtic player Kieran Tierney.
McGuire was a guest on the latest episode of the ‘A Celtic State of Mind’ podcast and the panel discussed multiple issues involving the Bhoys. The panel talked about multiple Celtic players and McGuire gave his opinion about Laxalt and he compared the Uruguayan defender to Tierney.
Laxalt, currently 27, had arrived at Celtic on loan from Milan in the summer transfer window. In the first half of the 2019/20 campaign, Laxalt was loaned out to Torino but he returned to the Rossoneri for the second half of the campaign (as per Transfermarkt).
Should Celtic try to sign Laxalt permanently?
Yes
No
McGuire believes that Laxalt is what Celtic have been crying out for and he was ‘outstanding’ while winning the ball back against Lille.
He said: “I think Laxalt takes you back to the sort of engine that Tierney had and what we’ve been kind of crying out for. I’m not saying that they’re the same player at all. I don’t think the defensive frailties have come from Laxalt. I think you look at his performance – winning the ball back away to Lille, he was absolutely outstanding. He seems to know his position, he can track a runner.”
TIF Thoughts on McGuire’s comments regarding Laxalt…
Since arriving at Celtic in the summer, the £4.5m-rated Laxalt has made three Premiership appearances and he has played three games in the UEFA Europa League (as per Transfermarkt). For his performances in the Europa League, he has picked up a rating of 7.55 so far and he has come up with impressive showings against Milan and Lille (as per WhoScored).
He has been the highest performing player for Celtic in the Europa League and it shows that he’s already impressed under Neil Lennon. While he’s started the campaign very well, Tierney had won as many as five Premiership titles with Celtic and this happens to be Laxalt’s first season at Parkhead. So because of that, it might be too early to compare Laxalt to Tierney.