Lawrence Shankland insists Celtic goal Vinicius Souza can fill the midfield safety guard void left by the departure of Nir Bitton.
The Scot confronted the Brazilian twice final season within the Belgian prime flight and has nothing however rave evaluations for a participant who he believes is an identikit of the Israeli who left Parkhead for pastures new this summer time. The champions are attempting to lure the 23-year-old to Glasgow and Beerschot striker Shankland is adamant a payment of across the £4million mark could be a discount for a expertise who shone like a diamond for Mechelen final season.
He mentioned: “I bear in mind enjoying in opposition to Souza. He’s onerous to overlook as he’s a tall, athletic man who makes an on the spot impression on you as he’s a little bit of a machine. “We performed Mechelen twice and each instances we struggled. They’re a great facet and Souza is an enormous a part of how they play as he sits in entrance of the defence and dominates in that space.
“We struggled within the two video games in opposition to them and in each video games he carried out properly. He does the easy issues properly.
“The function he carried out was as a holding participant within the midfield. He doesn’t over-complicate issues, he simply retains issues ticking over and shifting the ball ahead.
“He seemed technically superb and is an effective reader of the sport. He places me in thoughts of Nir Bitton.
“It will make sense that Celtic are searching for that sort of participant now that Bitton has moved on. Celtic could have been impressed as he’s had a great season in Belgium and golf equipment have clearly taken discover.
“Souza has an identical sort of stature to Bitton and appears greater than able to going into Celtic and doing an identical job to the one Bitton carried out.”
Souza stands 6ft 2in and Shankland believes Ange Postecoglou’s facet might be doing with a midfielder who carries a peak benefit as a part of his armoury.
He added: “From what I noticed of him within the two video games, Souza is sweet on the ball and has a presence about him. He’s an enormous lad and a risk at set-pieces.
“Celtic don’t actually carry that risk from midfield when it comes to measurement however they've boys like Callum McGregor who put within the miles. So it might assist complement that and supply a great steadiness.
“If Souza was beside him then I can see Callum getting a bit extra freedom to get concerning the pitch and get himself additional ahead with the shackles off him a bit extra.
“From what I bear in mind of Souza he likes to do the tidying up within the midfield space and maintain his place. He's very disciplined in that function.”
Shankland has settled into life in Belgium with relative ease however has nothing however admiration for gamers akin to Souza who depart house at a younger age and attempt to forge a profession on the opposite facet of the planet.
The previous Dundee United hitman noticed sufficient of the midfielder to understand a expertise who performs like an elder statesman to belie his tender years.
He added: “Souza has arrived in Belgium from Brazil and it says loads that he can transfer from the opposite facet of the world and adapt so shortly to a European league.
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“He’s solely 23 however he appears much more mature and skilled than he must be for a participant of that age. He appears as if he’s been enjoying that midfield function for years.
“That’s the way in which he comes throughout on the pitch and is clearly an clever participant.
“He’s not somebody who goes concerning the pitch demanding the ball and attempting to run the sport.
“After we performed Mechelen we sat in and so they did knock the ball round in entrance of us. However he wasn’t the midfield controller, he sat in entrance of the defence and made certain we couldn’t harm them on the counter-attack.
As Celtic proceed to scour the globe in a summer time recruitment drive, Shankland insists the Belgian league can present a supply of prime, younger expertise, with Souza an instance of gamers arriving in Europe from South America in a bid to seal strikes to the Continent’s largest golf equipment.
He mentioned: “The Belgian league is an effective normal, the highest 5 - 6 groups are prime quality.
“Anderlecht, Membership Bruges and Commonplace Liege are the plain ones. They're prime footballing groups then under that you just discover most groups are on a par with each other.
“There’s a number of good soccer performed right here and it’s a league I’ve loved enjoying in.
“It’s additionally heavily-scouted and a number of gamers handle to get strikes to Britain, particularly over current years. It’s a well-watched league when it comes to selecting expertise up so gamers look to return right here from the likes of South America and look to make use of that platform to try to transfer on to greater issues.
“Souza might be the most recent to do precisely that.”