FC Cincinnati are in talks with Celtic over signing Andrew Gutman for another season.
The left-back was signed during the bizarre January 2019 transfer window that also brought Manny Perez, Vakoun Bayo and Marian Shved to the club. Before February was over Brendan Rodgers left for Leicester City.
With no top league experience or a full international cap Gutman was denied a Work Permit and left Celtic on loan for Charlotte Independence where former Celtic coach Jim McGuinness was in charge.
Gutman looked decent in a couple of pre-season outings in Switzerland and Austria in 2019 but without a Work Permit he couldn’t play on loan in Scotland which resulted in two loan spells at Cincinnati.
The 24-year-old is contracted to Celtic until June 2022 but with little sign of a Work Permit it looks like he’ll be spending another season at Cincinnati as they prepare their Roster for 2021. Jaap Stam is the current Cincinnati manager.
The Cincinatti website explains:
- A total of 12 players have guaranteed contracts for the 2021 season: Saad Abdul-Salaam, Frankie Amaya, Alvaro Barreal, Allan Cruz, Franko Kova?evi?, Yuya Kubo, Jürgen Locadia, Kamohelo Mokotjo, Tom Pettersson, Beckham Sunderland, Maikel van der Werff and Brandon Vazquez
- Four players are out of contract in 2021: Andrew Gutman*, Nick Hagglund*, Spencer Richey and Przemys?aw Tyto?*
- FC Cincinnati will exercise the 2021 contract options on three players: Zico Bailey, Ben Lundt and Haris Medunjanin
- Finally, FCC will decline the 2021 contract options on 12 players: Rashawn Dally, Siem de Jong, Mathieu Deplagne, Greg Garza, Joseph-Claude Gyau*, Bobby Edwards, Tommy McCabe, Jimmy McLaughlin, Hassan Ndam, Rey Ortiz, Caleb Stanko* and Kendall Waston
* The club is in current negotiations and discussions with Andrew Gutman, Joseph-Claude Gyau, Nick Hagglund, Caleb Stanko and Przemys?aw Tyto? about their futures with FC Cincinnati.
A permanent move to Cincinnati would seem to be the most logical conclusion with little prospect of a 24-year-old suddenly becoming eligible to play football in Scotland. Gutman did play as a trialist in a friendly away to Arbroath in January 2019 before signing his contract.
Left-back has been a problem position for Celtic since the sale of Kieran Tierney but Diego Laxalt, Greg Taylor and Boli Bolingli have all been signed after the bizarre decision to give Gutman a contract.
