Twelve months ago, Celtic fans were waking up to Abada Day.
Technically Leigh Griffiths and Osaze Urhoghide had already been signed but the Israeli winger was the first proper signing under Ange Postecoglou.
A teenager from Israel wasn’t quite the type of statement signing that fans were hoping for as they prepared for some high profile departures. The £3.5m paid to Petah Tivka proved to be very well spent.
Straight away Abada was pitched into his debut. A 1-0 defeat at home to Preston was hardly a surprise but a few days later there were sparks of life with Abada opening the scoring against Midtjylland as Celtic Park started to open up to fans.
The Champions League dream ended in Denmark, Bobby Madden denied the young winger a scoring start in the SPFL away to Hearts but from matchday one Abada was part of an incredible turnaround.
When the transfer window closed Ryan Christie and Odsonne Edouard had left, Jota, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Giorgos Giakoumakis were brought in with Postecoglou’s plans starting to take shape.
Turning 20 in October, Abada soon picked up a League Cup winners medal, a week later he played through the centre, scoring twice, as a depleted Celtic won 3-1 away to St Johnstone but a significant week was waiting early in the new year.
A 90th minute goal past Ben Siegrist set Celtic up for the Glasgow Derby, Abada netted again as Celtic went to the top of the SPFL table, a position they held onto.
Abada scored 16 goals in total, across the three domestic competitions as well as three UEFA tournaments, he finished the season with his first goal for Israel, ghosting in from the wing to net in a 2-2 draw against Iceland.
Yesterday, Year One was completed with a goal away to Banik Ostrava. With the groundwork in place the next 12 months are full of opportunity including the Champions League as Abada and his team-mates mix it with the best in the business.
