Where Would Celtic Be Without Camilo Durán?

There would have been a collective intake of breath amongst Celtic supporters when Camilo Durán limped off whilst representing Colombia on Friday.

Thankfully, national team manager Néstor Lorenzo played down concerns surrounding the forward’s withdrawal, attributing his discomfort to cramp.

However, it got me thinking about just how reliant Celtic have become on their summer signing.

Durán has scored 13 goals and provided six assists in 21 competitive appearances since arriving from Qarabag.

Remarkably, the Colombian has directly contributed to 46% of Celtic’s Premiership goals this season.

Dig a little deeper into those statistics and things become even more interesting.

Celtic’s Growing Reliance On Durán

In the eight league matches in which Durán has scored or assisted, Celtic have collected 22 points from a possible 24.

Across those fixtures, we’ve scored 24 goals.

Compare that with the five league matches in which he hasn’t directly contributed.

Celtic have scored just four goals, collecting nine points and suffering two defeats.

Our goalscoring average drops from three per game to just 0.8.

That is a staggering difference.

I’ve been heavily critical of Celtic’s summer recruitment, and rightfully so.

The board failed to adequately equip the manager before our Champions League qualifiers before subsequently ripping up their transfer strategy following our elimination.

Nevertheless, whoever identified Durán and secured his services for a reported £6 million deserves credit.

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Could Durán Be The Answer For Kasper Høgh?

I’ve previously discussed on The Bhoycie Bus the possibility of deploying Durán in what I’d describe as the Benjamin Nygren role.

Rather than continually shifting our most effective attacking player out wide to accommodate Kasper Høgh, why not play him directly behind the Dane?

Durán has demonstrated his creative capabilities alongside his goalscoring exploits.

He’s registered at least six goals and an assist from matches he’s started on the right wing.

Furthermore, the Colombian has created ten big chances in the Premiership alone.

Imagine having someone with those qualities operating in and around Høgh, capable of supplying him whilst also providing a genuine goalscoring threat himself.

It wouldn’t necessarily require Martin O’Neill to abandon his preferred formation.

Instead, we’d have someone occupying that space between midfield and attack who instinctively thinks like a striker.

Perhaps Høgh would benefit from having another forward operating within ten yards of him rather than finding himself isolated between two central defenders.

Surely it’s worth exploring?

Friday’s injury scare served as a timely reminder of Durán’s importance to Celtic.

I’d argue our next challenge should be establishing how we can get even more out of him.

Because the prospect of Celtic having to cope without him doesn’t bear thinking about.