BRENDAN RODGERS brought Lee Congerton with the hope he would spearhead the scouting at Celtic Park.
The Irishman tasked the former Sunderland scout with unearthing talent for his Celtic revolution. Two-years in and there are much more questions than answers when it comes to Congerton’s eye for a player.
One such example is young Kundai Benyu. One of the first players to come in under Lee’s watch.
The midfielder came in from Ipswich as a very unknown quantity and Brendan Rodgers seemed happy enough with the signing. A low budget, low risk gamble on a player who Celtic can develop.
Rodgers revealed not long after the player’s signing that he was initially going to send Benyu straight out on-loan but admitted the player impressed so much in pre-season he decided to hang onto him at first.
“He’s been very good. He’s surprised me, to be honest. We knew he was a good player.” Rodgers Admitted.
“We will see how he develops. Initially, the plan was to have him in, thinking he can get an idea of how we work and then go on loan.”
After a couple of fleeting appearances for the first team, Kundai found himself relegated to the reserves for the first half of the season – the midfielder’s high energy game could not hide his obvious flaws.
Rodgers then sent the youngster out to Oldham where he only managed four league appearances before dropping out of sight. It was a disastrous loan deal.
The player popped up in pre-season but got no real run out, and to show how much of a big deal that might turn out to be, even Scott Allan got some meaningful game time in Friendlies.
Benyu has not been seen near the first team this season and has just recently popped up for the developmental squad.
No sign of a loan or Rodgers mentioning the youngster at all. With Lewis morgan coming in, Arzani not getting a game, Forrest on fire, Sinclair, Rogic and even McGregor to call on in an attacking midfield – Kundai is at the back of the line.
Unless the former Ipswich man earns rave reviews for the developmental side, it looks as if Rodgers has given up on one of the first Lee Congerton projects.
