When Patryk Klimala made his Celtic debut against Partick Thistle in January 2020, there was plenty of anticipation for what he could bring to Parkhead and Neil Lennon's side.
That is no different to any new signing but his introduction into the fray was hardly reminiscent of Lionel Messi replacing Deco for his Barcelona debut in 2004.
Klimala replaced Leigh Griffiths in that encounter but unlike Messi, Klimala hasn’t even come remotely close to setting the world alight.
In fact, he’s been incredibly disappointing since signing for the Hoops in a £3.5m deal.
The 22-year-old arrived 14 months ago having scored seven goals in 17 outings for Jagiellonia Bialystok in the Polish top-flight. Unfortunately, those goal-scoring antics have seldom been replicated in Scotland.
Klimala has netted just three times in 28 outings for the Bhoys and had to wait a grand total of nine months before making his first league start.
That came during the club’s 2-1 win over St Mirren last September but since then the Polish forward has started only two further games in the SPFL.
He has scored three goals all season, the last of which came all the way back in October. Lennon didn’t particularly like him but it turns out John Kennedy doesn’t either. Klimala started against Aberdeen but managed just 65 minutes before being hauled off.
He managed only 22 touches of the ball in that clash, a tally that happened to be 13 fewer than goalkeeper Scott Bain. Furthermore, Klimala managed just five accurate passes.
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It was a woeful showing, and it’s rather unsurprising that he’s failed to earn a single minute of football since.
Klimala has been so poor over the last year that his market value since penning terms in Glasgow has dropped dramatically.
Signed for £3.5m, he’s now rated at just £1.8m by Transfermarkt. That’s a considerable decrease of 48%. With a lack of match action and goals, his value will only continue to plummet over the coming months.
There could be an opening at the top of Celtic’s attack if Odsonne Edouard departs, but it would take a brave man to place faith in the young striker.
After all, a brutal assessment from Frank McAvennie sums it up. Speaking about Klimala he commented: “It must be soul-destroying for the full-back to keep putting the ball into the box and look up to see nobody there.”
Indeed, the Pole has been rather anonymous during his stint in Glasgow. Should Celtic cut ties in a few months time? They’d probably be wise before his value completely falls off a cliff.