Why West Brom should push to sign Olivier Ntcham from Celtic
According to Football Insider (h/t Brighton and Hove Independent), West Brom are keeping an eye on Olivier Ntcham. The Celtic man, who has been valued at £12m, is the subject of interest from the Baggies. A January move could be on the cards with the club keen on adding to their midfield stocks.
Profile
Olivier Ntcham is a 24-year-old French midfielder who plays for Celtic. He played for various youth clubs such as Chennevierne sur-Marne (2004), US Ormesson (2005), VGA Saint-Maur (2008), Paris FC (2009), Le Havre (2010) and finally Manchester City (2012).
In 2015, he was promoted to the senior team at Man City. Then he was immediately loaned out to Genoa for two years. He went on to play 41 times for Genoa, scoring 3 goals and assisting 2. (h/t Transfermarkt)
It needs to be noted that although Ntcham didn’t play for City’s senior side, he did play 46 times for the U-23’s. Celtic signed him once he returned from his loan spell in 2017. Since then, he has appeared in 145 games, scored 24 goals and assisted another 13. (h/t Transfermarkt)
Despite featuring heavily for the French youth teams, he is yet to get a call up to the senior side.
Ntcham would be a good addition to West Brom’s midfield
West Brom are back in the Premier League after a two-year absence. They must ensure adequate quality and depth in all positions in order to avoid the drop at the end of the season.
The Baggies already have quite a few midfielders on their books such as captain Jake Livermore, Rekeem Harper, Filip Krovinovic, Romaine Sawyers and Sam Field. In addition, they have also brought in Conor Gallagher on loan from Chelsea.
However, with only 6 recognised central players for a team that deploys 3 in the starting XI, it surely looks they are under-stocked. A player like Ntcham would solve that issue for them all ends up. Capable of playing in a variety of central positions such as attacking midfield, central midfield or defensive midfield, he would be a huge coup for West Brom.
In addition, the Frenchman, during his time with Celtic, has shown that he can be a source of goals from midfield as well. And the Baggies can certainly do with a goal-scoring midfielder considering how poor they have been in the final third this term.
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This is a deal the Baggies should go for. A complete and versatile midfielder who can chip in with goals and assists is exactly what West Brom need and Olivier Ntcham can provide them with just that.
