Forgotten Celtic striker Albian Ajeti has kickstarted his career at Sturm Graz and could find himself back on the Parkhead agenda.
Ajeti made the move to Celtic Park as Neil Lennon plotted to claim a 10th consecutive Scottish Premiership title with the club planning for life without Odsonne Edouard, who would eventually make his big move to Crystal Palace. However, the Swiss international failed to play his part in the succession plan as he struggled for form following his £5million move from West Ham, as he chipped in with just six goals during a trophyless season for Celtic.
While the Hoops enjoyed an upturn in form under Ange Postecoglou, Ajeti found himself on the fringes of the squad behind Kyogo Furuhashi and Giorgos Giakoumakis as he chipped in with just three goals as Celtic added the League Cup and Premiership title to the trophy cabinet. After failing to make his mark, the 25-year-old was shipped out on loan to the Austrian Bundesliga.
In what will be a surprise to Celtic fans, the forward has found his form at the club and has become a key part of Sturm Graz's bid to lift the league title. With the Bundesliga set to restart next week following their winter break, the club sit six points behind top of the table RB Leipzig.
While only adding two goals to his tally, Ajeti has altered his game to become more involved in general play forming a partnership with William Boving in attack. InStat figures show he is averaging 10 key passes per game for his current club, up dramatically from just 4 last season.
He also proving he is a capable target man with the stats backing up improvements in his hold up play, winning 32 per cent of his aerial duels compared with just 24 when at Celtic. He wins 3.4 of his aerial challenges on average this term.
And while he didn't fit into the Angeball philosophy last season, the frontman appears to have adopted some of the tactics into his game this term. He is putting in an average of 10 attacking challenges in the final third, when compared to 4 during the latter days of his time in the green and white hoops.
The form has earned praise from the club chiefs after taking time to adjust to the division. Impressed sporting director Andreas Schicker said: "He needed a bit more time to get started and is a different type of character than Rasmus (Højlund, who joined Serie A side Atalanta in the summer).
"You could see in training what potential he has and he definitely hit the spot now. We'll have a lot of fun with him."
Could this upturn in form and alterations to his style of play tempt Postecoglou to recall the striker? Giakoumakis has been heavily linked with a move away from Glasgow's east end in search of a bumper contract.
The club have tapped into the South Korea scouting network but appear to have missed out on Cho Gue-sung, while Suwon striker Oh Hyeon-gyu is reportedly the subject of an "improved" bid from Celtic. If the waiting game for another frontman drags on late into the window exploring a recall of Ajeti could become increasingly more tempting for the Hoops.
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