Celtic centre-back Carl Starfelt’s performances since arriving from Rubin Kazan last month have been underwhelming, to say the least.
The Swedish international was at fault for Hearts’ first goal in the 3-2 victory yesterday evening, giving away a penalty after tackling Liam Boyce in the box.
Starfelt also didn’t cover himself in glory for Aaron McEneff’s goal in injury time either and, while it didn’t cost the Hoops’ progression to the quarter-finals of the Premier Sports Cup, it has left many fans on Twitter rather worried. When asked to assess the club’s summer signings, the defender was one of those who was singled out for not being up to scratch:
Happy for you to come back at me and prove me wrong but Starfelt is a disaster. At fault for both goals. Not good enough.
— Cormac Mc Closkey (@IcemanClosk) August 15, 2021
Starfelt is the worry
— Matthew Leonard (@LeonardMbhoy75) August 15, 2021
Starfelt has to improve
— Gordo (@GordoMcC7) August 15, 2021
Starfelt has plenty to prove, looks shakey on the ball and clumsy in the tackle.
— MonTheHoopleheads (@hoopleheads_) August 15, 2021
Starfelt looks so nervous. Hopefully its just an adjustment period but he looks way off it at the moment
— Quad Treble Champions (@quadtreblechamp) August 15, 2021
Starfelt doesn’t fill me with confidence
— James Morrison (@jmorrison031) August 15, 2021
Starfelt very questionable
— Joseph McGeouch (@joseph_mcgeouch) August 15, 2021
Starfelt needs to prove his worth ? the rest seem to be settling in well….
— Drew Wilson (@DGWilson175) August 15, 2021
Celtic spent £4.25m on the 26-year-old, and for that price, many were hoping that he could provide some much-needed defensive solidity to the backline. So far, though, he has looked far less assured than his much younger teammate Stephen Welsh.
Whether it is just a settling-in period for Starfelt, we shall have to wait and see, but he certainly hasn’t impressed as much as the likes of Kyogo Furyhashi and Liel Abada.