Celtic knew that they had to improve their options in wide areas after losing Jota because of an LCA injury and sold Nicolas Kuhn in Como in summer.
They took their time to add to the team, but they finally brought Sebastian Tounekti to the Hammarby club on the day of the deadline at the beginning of the month.
Since his move to Parkhead, the Tunisian international has captured the imagination of supporters with his electrical performances on the left side during his first two appearances.
Why Sebastian Tounekti has already excited Celtic fans
Brendan Rodgers threw it at the deep end as a starter against Kilmarnock in Scottish first, and was rewarded with an impressive display.
By Sofascore, the left striker created four chances for his teammates and completed five dribbles. This shows that it was direct, creative and exciting at the upper end of the terrain.
Tounekti followed this with his first goal for the club during the 4-0 victory against Partick Thistle in the quarter-final of the League Cup in Firhill on Sunday, ending well after a two with Kelechi Iheanacho.
The supporters took it quickly because he was not afraid to take risks and make things happen with the ball at his feet, after three games without a goal scored for the hoops before his arrival.
While Tounekti already looks like a fantastic signature for the club, Celtic can still lose a young talent last year which was on the right track to be their local version of the Tunisian star, Rocco Vata.
Why Vata was a local Touchekti for Celtic
The scout of talents Jacek Kulig said that the Irish striker had an “exciting” future at the club in 2022, which seemed to be a very just prediction to do at the time.
Vata scored 23 goals in 34 games for Celtic team B, presenting its scorer potential, and succeeded in a six outings in the first team for the hoops after having made the step at the senior level, by transfer.
Unfortunately, however, international Ireland only obtained 11 minutes of football in the Premiership during the 2023/24 campaign, which led him to choose to leave the club to join Watford at the end of his contract in the summer of 2024.
The Hoops received only £ 237,000 compensation for the young Irishman, who scored four goals and provided four assists for the Hornets during his first year in England.
The Vata was mainly used as a left winger in Watford, where Tounekti played for Celtic, and his performances in the championship last season were incredibly promising.
|
24/25 championship |
Rocco Vata for 90 |
Row at the centile vs ailiers |
|---|---|---|
|
xg |
0.17 |
Top 43% |
|
Goals |
0.18 |
Top 42% |
|
Shots |
2.53 |
Top 20% |
|
Aid |
0.24 |
Top 20% |
|
Key in the opposition box |
4.54 |
Top 25% |
|
Successful dribbles |
2.12 |
Top 13% |
|
Statistics via fotmob |
||
As you can see in the table above, the 20-year-old talent has ranked well among his positional peers as a marker, creator and dribbler, the three things that Tounekti has been on the left flank for the hoops so far.
Vata also created five chances and recorded a decisive pass in 107 minutes of championship football, by Sofascore, this season after his return from injury in August, which also illustrates his creative quality.
These statistics show that he has the potential to be an exciting player that supporters to look at because he can provide goals, assists and dribbles on the left side to get the fans out of their seats.
This is why he could have been a local version of Tounekti for Celtic if they had given him more opportunities to impress in the first team in Parkhead, rather than a single Ligue cameo in his last season.
Consequently, Celtic must regret losing it, in particular given the weakness of the costs of remuneration, because they could have had Touchekti and Vata as exciting options on the side.
