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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Lana Mackay

'The jersey was his to lose' - Hartson on how Palma can revive his Celtic career

John Hartson believes it will be "extremely difficult" for Celtic winger Luis Palma to force his way back into Brendan Rodgers’ starting lineup.

The Honduran internationalist has been on the periphery this season after a promising debut campaign at Celtic Park.

Palma joined on a five-year deal in the summer of 2023 for a fee of £3.5 million from Greek side Aris FC. Despite claiming ten goals and ten assists in 32 appearances in his first year, he has only featured four times so far this season and started just once.

Speaking on the Go Radio Football Show, Hartson said: “I think first of all, he came to the club and he had some good moments.


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“I remember this goal up at Ross County where it was a wonderful strike. I’m not sure, I think Celtic won comfortable that day. It wasn’t the winning goal or nothing.

“And for me, Luis Palma has had numerous opportunities to go and really perform at a high level for himself. I think he hasn’t.

“I think he’s dropped in terms of his performances. And now it looks like he’s going to have to work extremely hard with Maeda playing in his position on the left and obviously the likes of Forrest and Kuhn playing over on the other side.

“For Palma to stay at Celtic, he’s going to have to get his head down, train well, show the manager that he’s got the right attitude to get back into the side.

“I’ve no doubt that he might get a few more opportunities. But the fact was, he was in this team.

The jersey was his to lose and he seems to have not performed on a regular basis. It looks like he’s lost his place.”

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