Lawrence Shankland has branded Celtic target Vinicius Souza as a 'machine' as he backed the midfielder to fill the void left by the departing Nir Bitton.
Ange Postecoglou is out to strengthen his midfield ranks following the Parkhead exit of the long-serving Israel midfielder and Tom Rogic. Scotland cap Shankland - who has been linked with a return to Scotland with Hearts - faced the Brazilian twice last season with Beerschot as he providing Celtic fans with an insight of what they could expect to see should he pitch up this summer.
He told the Daily Record: “I remember playing against Souza. He’s hard to miss as he’s a tall, athletic guy who makes an instant impression on you as he’s a bit of a machine. We played Mechelen twice and both times we struggled. They’re a good side and Souza is a big part of how they play as he sits in front of the defence and dominates in that area.
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“We struggled in the two games against them and in both games he performed well. He does the simple things well.
“The role he performed was as a holding player in the midfield. He doesn’t over-complicate things, he just keeps things ticking over and moving the ball forward.
“He looked technically very good and is a good reader of the game. He puts me in mind of Nir Bitton.
“It would make sense that Celtic are looking for that type of player now that Bitton has moved on. Celtic will have been impressed as he’s had a good season in Belgium and clubs have clearly taken notice.
“Souza has a similar type of stature to Bitton and looks more than capable of going into Celtic and doing a similar job to the one Bitton carried out.”
He continued: “From what I saw of him in the two games, Souza is good on the ball and has a presence about him. He’s a big lad and a threat at set-pieces.
“Celtic don’t really carry that threat from midfield in terms of size but they have boys like Callum McGregor who put in the miles. So it could help complement that and provide a good balance.
“If Souza was beside him then I can see Callum getting a bit more freedom to get about the pitch and get himself further forward with the shackles off him a bit more.
“From what I remember of Souza he likes to do the tidying up in the midfield area and hold his position. He is very disciplined in that role.”
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