Joe Allen is having an incredible time in France this summer. Much better than most!
He is playing the football of his life in a team full of players who are also playing the football of their lives. They’ll be distraught when the tournament ends, but it could still end after they lift the trophy. Now that would be incredible.
International football is often about redemption. How many players have been abandoned by their clubs just before a big international tournament? How many stories are there of free agent players setting a tournament alight and finding a move? Hal Robson-Kanu is just the latest in a long line. It’s a little different with him – he let his own contract run down in a bid to get a bigger move. But the narrative still holds, at any rate. It’s a good story.
And Liverpool midfielder Joe Allen could be in a similar boat. He has been linked with a move away from Liverpool – notably to Celtic – and clearly isn’t in Jurgen Klopp’s plans for Liverpool’s future.
Any stats we take for Allen from last season will probably not look like they mirror his performances so far for Wales at Euro 2016. He has been a great influence in the Wales side this summer, moving the ball well and keeping the tempo to allow the likes of Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale to take up attacking positions in the pitch, using their quality to break teams down.
But what last season’s stats do show is that Allen is a very tidy player, and one who is comfortable playing a pass in the midfield.
What he won’t do, however, is add goals to a side.
Perhaps a move to Scotland and a chance to work with Brendan Rodgers, a manager who clearly believes in him, could allow him to replicate the form he’s shown with Wales this summer – because you can see why Rodgers likes him.
His passing ability suits Rodgers’ systems perfectly, and Celtic will need that composure and quality in order to break down some of the more stubborn defences to qualify for – and progress in – Europe this season.
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