Celtic podcaster Hamish Carton has recently talked about Albian Ajeti and whether he can replace Odsonne Edouard in the future.
Carton was hosting the latest video on the 67HailHail YouTube channel and along with Jackie McNamara, the panel discussed multiple issues involving the Hoops. One topic of discussion was Odsonne Edouard and how Celtic could replace him. This led to them talking about Ajeti and Carton feels that the Swiss forward isn’t an Edouard replacement.
Is Ajeti a future Griffiths replacement?
Yes
No
Ajeti arrived at Parkhead from West Ham in the summer for a fee of £4.5 million. On signing for the Bhoys, Ajeti had praised Edouard and had said that both of them can form a good partnership together (as per BBC Sport). Ajeti is currently valued at £4.05m.
Carton feels that Ajeti isn’t an Edouard replacement but he has shown enough to be a future Leigh Griffiths replacement.
He said: “I think Ajeti could be a good player. We saw enough in that initial burst when he came to the club, when he scored those five goals in six games or whatever. He looked like a really good signing at that stage.
“But if you’re asking me whether he’s a replacement for Edouard? Not a chance. I don’t think he’s nearly of the same level or same class as Edouard. I think you can look at Ajeti as a possible Griffiths replacement for next season, maybe if Griffiths isn’t at the club.”
TIF Thoughts on Ajeti…
Since arriving at Celtic, Ajeti has scored only six Premiership goals and his sixth goal only came in the recent win over Kilmarnock. He had initially directly contributed to six goals in just as many Premiership games for the Bhoys as he got his Celtic career off to a flying start (as per Transfermarkt).
The former West Ham man is left-footed – like Griffiths. Griffiths is currently 30 and Neil Lennon has been critical of his fitness in recent months. That might suggest that Griffiths may not have a long-term future at Parkhead and since Ajeti has already scored some goals (the same amount as the Scot this season), it is easy to see why Carton sees him as a potential replacement.