Celtic’s year has been an absolute whirlwind.

Because of the current pandemic surrounding us, the Scottish season was curtailed early. Thus, the Hoops took home the league title because of their emphatic lead at the top of the table.

Since then, they’ve had aspirations of winning a tenth-successive domestic crown. That, however, looks a far-fetched dream, mainly because Rangers have gone 11 points clear.

To be that far behind their rivals has been unthinkable in the last decade but it’s clear that not everything has been done right in 2020.

On the transfer front, things have also been largely unimpressive. The Hoops missed out on the likes of Joe Hart, Ivan Toney and Fraser Forster in the summer but we want to focus on someone they failed to sign in January.

Nearly 12 months ago it was reported that Celtic had been offered the chance to sign Ian Poveda at Manchester City. Lo and behold, Nick Hammond failed to get his cheque book out and he signed for Leeds United instead.

The pacey prodigy started just once last season so initially, it didn’t look like a loss. However, Poveda’s vibrant cameos from the substitutes bench in 2020/21 lead us to believe he would have added a great deal to Celtic’s side.

Of course, the vast majority of their problems lie in defence but Celtic aren’t exactly as free-scoring as they were last year, failing to find the net against Ross County last weekend.

Although Poveda is yet to score a goal for Leeds, he resembles the qualities that Daniel Arzani showed for Celtic. Both diminutive wingers with tricky abilities, the Australian unfortunately had an injury-hit spell in Glasgow and played just twice.

Hoops supporters didn’t get a clear inkling of his ability but he is a superb dribbler, just like Poveda, someone who could have made up for the loss of Arzani when he returned to Manchester City.

Both have come through the academy at City and given the technical attributes they possess, it’s clear to see why.

According to Twenty3, Arzani has managed 13.85 successful dribbles per 90 minutes for FC Utrecht in the Netherlands. On the other hand, Poveda has registered 9.61 over the same metric.

In terms of touches in the opposing penalty area, the Leeds winger is ahead by quite the distance – 5.56 v 1.15. Coincidentally, they are vastly similar when it comes to the number of accelerations they make over an average of 90 minutes. Arzani has 3.46 compared to Poveda’s haul of 3.03.

Considering Poveda was acquired on a free transfer, you can’t help but feel as though Hammond and Celtic missed a trick here.

After all, Pep Guardiola once said the 20-year-old had an “incredible power to develop.”

He is one that undoubtedly got away.

Meanwhile, Celtic could fix their HUGE Scott Brown problem in the following way...