There has been a lot of discourse and conversation surrounding Celtic since the return from the winter break.
Players, board members, and the manager have all seen criticism levelled their way, but someone who was removed from the limelight but perhaps inadvertently placed further into the firing line was Liel Abada.
A football manager deals with many different challenges in their managerial career, and Brendan Rodgers will have thought that he had seen it all in 18 years of management, but dealing with the situation surrounding Abada will have been one of the trickiest and most sensitive subjects that Rodgers has ever faced.
Liel Abada was withdrawn from the squad for Celtic’s Scottish Cup fifth round clash in Paisley against St Mirren, with Brendan Rodgers explaining his reasoning for dropping his as simply “he wasn’t in the right frame of mind.”
“I’ve spoken a lot to Liel and it has been a challenging time for him. I just felt when he came into the game the other night (against Hibs), it just wasn’t him.
“So we gave him this chance to have a few days and clear his mind. I’ll have a chat with him again next week, see where he’s at.”
With Abada now expected to be absent from the team for the foreseeable, what could the future hold for the Israeli?
What’s going on with Abada?
The current situation in Gaza has seen the Celtic support continue to show their long-standing support for the Palestinians, defying the orders of the club by flying Palestinian flags at Celtic Park for their Champions League Group Stage tie against Atlético Madrid.
The escalating situation in the middle east will have been playing on Abada’s mind. He was out of action when the conflict began to escalate once again and returned from injury just before the winter break.
When fit this season, Abada hasn’t looked like the same player that had shone for Celtic in years gone by. Hesitant to get involved and sluggish whenever he was involved, Abada was clearly distracted by the situation going on back home and was rightfully withdrawn from the Celtic team.
Leaving in the summer or even sooner?
Celtic are stacked with options on the wing at the moment. Nicolas Kühn was brought in during the January window to provide competition for Liel Abada, adding to the already strong options available for the club in Luis Palma and Daizen Maeda.
The club could survive without Abada, and there were suggestions in January that he could have been looking for a six-month loan spell away from Celtic Park to clear his head as well as escaping the awkward situation he finds himself in with the fans’ unwavering support for Palestine.
It now seems as though a pre-season departure would not suit the 22-year-old, who is keen to maintain match sharpness in preparation for Israel’s Euro 2024 qualifier play-off against Iceland next month.
There was previous interest from the likes of Ajax and Crystal Palace for Abada, but given the recent developments, other markets (including the MLS) could be explored in an effort to move the player on even earlier than the summer.
JAMES MCKENZIE // Follow James HERE
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