Just 12 months ago Ismaila Soro looked to be one of the pillars of Celtic's future.
Yet the Ivorian is now an afterthought under the Ange Postecoglou era as he struggles to even be named in a match day squad.
In January 2020, the midfielder arrived in the Scottish Premiership from Bnei Yehuda in a deal worth around £2million.
After getting used to life in Glasgow's east end, calls for Soro to become an automatic starter began to grow.
With the struggles during Neil Lennon’s final months in charge and 36-year-old Scott Brown struggling for form, Soro was handed a run ahead of the skipper.
While Lennon and John Kennedy would swap between the two for the remainder of the campaign in the deep-lying midfield role, many viewed the Ivorian as the natural successor to the iconic Parkhead captain.
At the time Soro conceded it would be a mammoth task to fill the gap left by Aberdeen-bound Brown.
He stated: “It’s a very tough job to step into Scott’s shoes.
“The captain is a really great player, who I respect a lot. To be at such a big team for such a long time as captain says a lot about him.
“And it’s not just about the job he does on the pitch. It’s everything else. He is such an important figure at this club.
“Being the one who has to try to do the same job on the pitch is a big challenge.”
Since then, he has proven himself correct with minutes hard to come by in the Postecoglou era so far.
In fact, Celtic had looked to offload the 23-year-old in the January window.
A move to Dutch side Fortuna Sittard collapsed in the final hours of the window, while Major League Soccer side New York Red Bulls also made their interest known.
After the move fell apart, Postecoglou commented: "There was a complication with Holland because unfortunately he needed to have a work permit sorted for us to do a deal.
"That didn’t happen. But with him and a couple of others there are still markets open and he is training well and available."
Since then Soro has only made one appearance for the side, coming in a two-minute cameo during the 3-0 win over Rangers on February 2.
Following that run out, the midfielder has missed out on the last 15 squads in all competitions, not even being named on the bench in the Premiership, Scottish Cup or Europa Conference League.
With the likes of James McCarthy and Yosuke Ideguchi ahead of him in the pecking order, things look bleak for Soro at Celtic.
