Olivier Ntcham

Neil Lennon is adamant Olivier Ntcham can have a long-term future at Celtic as he repeated his not-for-sale stance on James Forrest.

The Parkhead boss offered a clear message on two of his stars ahead of tonight’s Champions League showdown against CFR Cluj.

Lennon and his troops are looking to secure a play-off clash against Slavia Prague by converting last week’s 1-1 away draw in the first leg into progression from the third qualifying round.

Ntcham could figure against Dan Petrescu’s side having responded positively to a chat with his manager.

The 23-year-old looked set to be heading out of the door with Marseille and Porto both keen on his services, but Lennon wants him to stay beyond this month’s transfer window and feels he can be a key contributor in the upcoming campaign.

He said: “Absolutely. I want him here, I don’t want him to go.

“Obviously for a while, he was thinking maybe his future lay elsewhere, but we’ve tried to reiterate to him that we want him here and we want his future to be here.

“His all-round game is good. He needs maybe a little bit of defensive work at times, he could use his body better or do the yards a little bit more, but on the ball he’s just got that little bit of maverick about him.

“He’s a beautifully balanced footballer, he’s training really well, he seems happy and settled. We just want more of the same because we’ve got a helluva player there.

“He’s got real flair about him and ability. You saw that as the game wore on last Saturday.

“At times he’s too good a player to leave out and he just needs to be consistent now.

“He’s set himself a really good benchmark and, to be fair, he made a really good contribution when he came on in Romania, too. He will definitely come into contention.”

Quotes attributed to Ntcham last month from his homeland about not progressing in Scottish football and needing to quit were addressed by Lennon and the fans have not given the player a hard time.

The boss added: “There is always going to be a few dissenting voices, as we’ve seen with Kieran [Tierney] leaving. I get that to a certain degree, but we’ve got to move on from that.”

 

yah * did i miss the champions league return tie

 

I had him as man of the match tonight thought he was outstanding

 

Meh.

 

He was very good today and I mean it.

 

He'll be gone..

 

I know I am not his biggest fan, and he was far from the worst on show, but really? Forrest was our best player in the first-half (and was excellent in the second too) and Eddy gave a masterful performance in the second.

 

Guy will ask for a transfer after tonight, no doubt.

He's been a breath of fresh air compared to his attitude last season. But let's not kid ourselves on, he wants his move.
All for a guy playing hard and fighting for his move, but when the club crashes out of the champions League, what has he to really play for? Porto etc aren't really gonna come knocking for an spfl player, he will have wanted to showcase himself in the champions League.

I'd be surprised if he doesn't hand in a a request. Which is a midfielder we will need to add to the shopping list.

Sent from my F8331 using Tapatalk

 

Porto won’t be wanting anyone either, they share our pain!

 

Don’t get why you’d take him off. Every good move went through him at some point.

 

Thought he was good especially second half, will be shocked if he's still here come the huns game.

 

Really wouldn't blame him in handing in a request. * too good to be playing in the spfl/europa and he knows it.

 

I know it
You know it
He knows it
So he'll be able to prove it consistently....

Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk

 

TRANSFER NEWS
Celtic attempt to offload Olivier Ntcham 'knocked back' by Bordeaux according to French media



An attempt by Celtic to offload Olivier Ntcham to French side Bordeaux has been knocked back by the Ligue 1 side, according to reports coming out of France.

French site 20 minutes report that the defensive midfielder was offered to Bordeaux, but they declined on the basis of the transfer fee involved (a rumoured €4 million) and because his profile didn't correspond to the player that the club are after (an experienced midfielder).


The 23-year-old French U21 international is under contract with the Hoops until June 2022, and has made no secret of his desire for a move away from Parkhead.

 

The rare bird is waiting
The file is a priority at the club. The leaders have been working there for weeks or even months. But for the moment the rare bird is waiting. One thing is certain, it will not be Maxime Gonalons. The former Lyon has never really interested the club and according to our information, his health eventually convinced the leaders not to look into his case.

Another track a little deeper by the club, that of the young Olivier Ntcham. The French prospect Celtic Glascow (23 years old) was proposed because the Scots do not really count on him anymore but today, it is not the priority and above all, it is too expensive for the club according to the information of 20 minutes.


https://www.20minutes.fr/sport/2584...rues-paulo-sousa-repond-terrain-face-mhsc-1-1

 

If true totally contradicts everything Lenny has said.. Either he’s not in the loop or he’s all over the place with the job..

Both, concerning.

 

How can the Apparent €15m fee drop to €4m

 

Total bullshit, we aren't going to offload him for less than what we paid.