Rough urges Celtic to sell Ntcham – should the Hoops listen?

Alan Rough has urged Celtic to sell star midfielder Olivier Ntcham this summer – but should the club listen to their former goalkeeper?

Ntcham, who has been heavily linked with a move away from Celtic Park in recent months, has featured in the last six games for the Hoops after initially beginning the season out of Neil Lennon’s side following his participation in the U21 European Championships.

The Frenchman started on Tuesday night as Celtic suffered a shock second-leg defeat to Romanian side CFR Cluj, resulting in a shock Champions League exit for the ‘treble treble’ winners. 

And Rough, talking to PLZ, cited by The Boot Room, has urged Celtic to now sell the midfielder, but only if they receive offers in the region of £8-9 million. 

People have made their minds up, he can be replaced. 

If you were to get £8million or £9million for him, I think you can replace him. I think he is a quality player in European style of football.

In European leagues, he could pull the strings. But I think Celtic can find a player that is better than him. If someone is going to go, I would sell Ntcham.

Read Celtic view

Ntcham and Lennon held face to face talks earlier in the summer and it looks like they have cleared the air. However, if the player is still partly unsettled in Scotland, the club should consider moving the 23-year-old on before the end of the month and attempt to bring in a suitable replacement. 

The Hoops signed Ntcham for £4.5 million from Manchester City two years ago, so if they could at least double that fee in a potential sale, it could be viewed as a good piece of business, especially if he is unhappy. 

However, if he is actually completely content over staying Celtic Park, it could make sense to keep him in Scotland for the current season.

It looks as if Ntcham’s immediate future will ultimately boil down to the player’s attitude, a factor we see so often in transfers in today’s game.