Chris Sutton explains why Celtic summer signing will be ‘devastated’

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Chris Sutton has said in his Daily Record column that new Celtic signing Boli Bolingoli will be feeling “devastated” after the left-back was left on the bench during the Hoops’ Champions League exit to CFR Cluj.

Celtic were knocked out of Champions League qualifying in the third round by Romanian champions Cluj, suffering a 5-4 aggregate defeat and a 4-3 loss at Parkhead on Tuesday night.

Neil Lennon opted to leave £3million signing Boli Bolingoli, as well as Christopher Jullien on the bench. Instead, left-footed midfielder Callum McGregor reverted to the left side of defence, with Kieran Tierney joining Arsenal.

The Hoops gaffer has since been criticised for choosing to leave both Jullien and Bolingoli on the bench, and Celtic icon Sutton has claimed that McGregor will feel “devastated” as well as new signing Bolingoli.

“If I was McGregor then I’d be devastated,” Sutton said. “This is a boy who was wanted by a top-half Premier League team because of his midfield talents and told he couldn’t leave because he was too important to Celtic.

“Yet he ends up shunted out of his best position in a huge game. It killed him and you would imagine it has done the same to Boli Bolingoli. Signed as the left-back for £3million, it was a move which must have told him that he couldn’t be trusted in the big game.”

TBR’s view – Do Celtic need another left-back?

If Bolingoli cannot be trusted in Celtic’s big games, Lennon has got to go out and buy another left-back with the £25million received for Tierney. Otherwise, there is no excuse for his decision to leave out Bolingoli.

Lennon knows his players best and he is the one in the best position to choose who starts and who does not. But to sign a left-back for £3million – a princely sum in Scottish football – and leave him out in the biggest game of the season so far is more than surprising.

If Bolingoli is not good enough for the big games, Celtic need a new left-back.