Deila gives update on Nesbitt and Ciftci’s future

Ronny Deila has said two players still have a future at Celtic despite going out on loan on deadline day.

Academy prospect Aidan Nesbitt moved on loan to Glasgow rivals Partick Thistle for the remainder of the season having impressed in Celtic’s UEFA Youth squad and in the development league.

The 18-year-old youngster will hope to lay down a marker for next season whilst on loan and prove to Deila that he’s worthy of a first-team spot.

As quoted by Celtic’s official website, Deila said:

I see him coming back in the summer as a better player than he is now and he’s a talented player.

He had a good game yesterday (Monday) against Rangers, scoring two goals.

There is tough competition here, but he’s very young and one of the players we feel can make it. Now he will go to Partick Thistle, which is a good club for him.

It’s very close to Celtic and we can look at him all the time and he can hopefully get experience in the top division, so it’s a very good move for him.

The youth player watched his former academy team-mate and friend Kieran Tierney make the leap from the academy to the first-team last year and will be hoping to do the same after the summer.

In four appearances in the UEFA Youth Cup he’s scored four goals and made his debut for the first-team against Raith Rovers in the closing minutes of the Scottish League Cup tie.

Another player the Norwegian manager spoke about was Turkish striker Nadir Ciftci.

The 23-year-old has struggled to reach the same heights as last year when he scored 14 league goals since his £1.5 million summer move.

In 22 appearances he’s managed just four goals but Deila is still confident he has a future in the green and white Hoops.

Nadir was very keen to get out and play consistently. He’s a young player and we felt it was a good idea and he will be back again in the summer.

Players come from smaller clubs and they come in here and it’s a tough environment. To give people chances here is tough as they need to perform and we need to win all the time. He has been here for six months and has felt that.

He will go out and play a little bit and absorb all the things he has been through here at Celtic. When he comes back here, he should be more ready and know what to expect as we go into the next season.

Ciftci has returned to his native Turkey and will hope to get some regular first-team football with Super Lig side Eskisehirspor.