RICH PICKINGS
Soro is tipped to be the latest success story for Celtic as Lennon scours Israeli market for talent
CELTIC’S enduring fascination with the Israeli transfer market has yielded another done deal with the completion of midfielder Ismaila Soro’s transfer from Bnei Yehuda.
The capture of the young midfielder on a four-and-a-half-year contract has cost the Parkhead club a fee in the region of £2million and follows a transfer policy established with the signing of Beram Kayal a decade ago.
Although the honour of being the first Israeli international to play for Celtic is held by Eyal Berkovic, Kayal’s move from Maccabi Haifa during Neil Lennon’s very first transfer window at the club proved to be a trendsetter.
The Northern Irishman’s inaugural stint in charge saw him sign Nigerian cap Efe Ambrose from Ashdod in 2012 and he returned to the same source for Nir Bitton a year later.
Each provided sufficient value for the trade route to be reopened
following the manager’s
He is really good at moving the ball quickly and controls midfield well
reappointment in 2019. Agent Dudu Dahan, who had taken a back seat during the Brendan Rodgers era at Parkhead, was suddenly back in favour and assisted in last summer’s signing of Hatem Abd Elhamed from Hapoel Be’er Sheva. Dahan also represents Soro.
Regular watchers of Israeli football are intrigued by Celtic’s knack of transplanting players from a relatively impoverished domestic league then watching them thrive in Glasgow.
Writer Nir Tsadok, a correspondent for Israeli newspaper Haaretz, is in no doubt that Soro will be a success at Celtic simply because he regards him as a superior player to both Ambrose and Bitton.
‘Soro is one of the best central midfielders in Israel,’ said Tsadok. ‘He has been playing to a much better standard than Efe Ambrose was at Ashdod.
‘If Ambrose could move to Celtic and be a success, then I have to say that Soro is at a more developed stage of his career.
‘Given the level he played at, and the volume of games, it’s safe to say Ambrose was a success at Celtic.
‘But people here have asked this question before — how can you go from that level at Ashdod to making it with Celtic? Because Celtic is viewed as a much higher level.
‘It’s very interesting. Soro is also a better player than Bitton. He has done more than Bitton had before he left Israel.
‘Kayal was different, a bit more established and regarded very highly. But, for sure, it was time for Soro to move.’
Kayal later joined Brighton, where he became a Premier League player, while Ambrose left Celtic for Hibs in 2017.
Another ex-Ashdod player, Bitton, remains on the books at Parkhead and recently signed a new contract extension, which could potentially see him team up with Soro.
An aggressive and intelligent midfield anchor for Tel Aviv’s third club Bnei Yehuda, the Ivorian had apparently been primed for a move for some time.
His arrival will prove a sound piece of succession planning as he initially acts as understudy for 34-year-old captain Scott Brown.
At 21, and not yet a full internationalist, Soro is a player Celtic have picked with at least one eye on the future.
Already well travelled, thanks to stints in Moldova and Belarus, he arrived in Israel in 2018 and soon made his mark. He was pivotal in the club’s Israeli State Cup win last year.
‘Soro is the last big player to be sold from that successful team,’ added Tsadok. ‘Bnei Yehuda are the third club in Tel Aviv behind Maccabi and Apoel.
‘Traditionally, they bring players from the lower divisions and then sell them on to the bigger teams.
‘At the moment, they are seventh in the league. But without Soro, they would have been near the bottom.
‘He is really good at moving the ball quickly. He controls the midfield almost on his own — and that’s with a team that is not used to having a lot of possession.’
Upon first observing Kayal go toe-to-toe with Brown in training all those years ago, Lennon remarked that his new signing played like ‘a bull’.
So it was interesting to hear the manager use the same word to describe Soro as the transfer neared completion.
‘Soro is a strong player but not tall,’ concurred Tsadok. ‘He has had some issues with red cards, maybe two to three per season.
‘He has a temper, but I think any of the big clubs in Israel would love to have had him, although even Maccabi could not afford him. ‘The Israeli market was closed for Soro, so he had to move abroad.’ The youngster could yet be joined at Parkhead by another star of the Israeli scene, the Maccabi Tel Aviv forward Yonatan Cohen.
Reports claim Celtic recruitment chief Nick Hammond dispatched a scout to watch Cohen score twice against Maccabi Haifa earlier this month.
The capture of £3.5m Polish striker Patryk Klimala means Celtic could check on the 23-year-old again in the summer. Tsadok added: ‘Cohen is the most talked about player in Israel. He scored a late winning goal to make it 4-3 in that game in Haifa and he has been compared to Eran Zahavi, who is the main player in the national team.
‘Cohen is like a second striker. He moves well around the box and is a very good finisher.’
Lennon’s eagerness to add freshness in the wide attacking areas could make the Maccabi Tel Aviv forward appealing — but he is also looking ahead to the eventual departure of brilliant hitman Odsonne Edouard.
Cohen does not operate as an out-and-out striker but he does possess some of Edouard’s lethal goalscoring instincts.
‘Yonatan has a star quality. He is one of those players who is capable of scoring the decisive goal,’ said Tsadok.
‘In front of goal, he has cold blood. He knows how to score goals.
‘Maccabi do not need the money right now and they are going for the championship in Israel.
‘They will also want to make a competition out of any moves for Cohen and there is speculation that Roma are also interested.
‘Maccabi will want a fee of around £2.5-£3.5m. Celtic can afford that money — and could make a profit on that in couple of years’ time.’
Cohen may be staying at Maccabi for the time being but Scottish fans could get a chance to see him up close when Israel travel to Glasgow for the Euro 2020 play-off semi-final at Hampden next month.
‘He has not yet played much for the national team so far but there is a lot of anticipation that he and Zahavi could team up in the game against Scotland next month,’ continued Tsadok.