Celtic defender Hatem AbdElhamed could return to his native Israel when the transfer window reopens in January as he's said to be homesick. The Israeli right-back is on his own in Scotland after his family left him to return to Israel. His potential exit is dependent on whether the Scottish Premiership champions are able to sign a replacement for him on the right side of their defence.

Hatem AbdElhamed is just 18 months into his four-year contract at the club. His Celtic contract will expire at the end of the 2022/23 season as a result of the deal he signed upon joining them from Israeli club HapoelBe'erSheva. Celtic paid £1.6m to sign the 29-year-old defender last summer. The eight-cap Israeli international has been in and out of the Celtic team under manager Neil Lennon this season.Elhamed has been sharing right-back duties with JeremieFrimpong this season.

Following his transfer from Israel in 2019,Hatem AbdElhamed made a good start to his Celtic career especially at the start of last season until the combination of injury plus the emergence of JeremieFrimpong stopped his progress. He suffered a serious groin injury in Europe during the Europa League game at Lazio. The injury ensured that JeremieFrimpong got his chance at right-back and he's presently ahead of Elhamedin the pecking order.
Hatem AbdElhamed has played as part of a back three and as a right-back at Celtic since his transfer last year. He started the last Europa League clash at the home of AC Milan, which ended in a 3-2 defeat for Celtic last week Thursday after the Scottish club had gone 2-0 up. He was replaced by Chris Jullien for the 1-1 draw at home to St Johnstonein the league on Sunday.
Celtic manager Neil Lennon is expected to field questions from journalists about Hatem AbdElhamed and his desire to return home when he holds his pre-match presser ahead of the Europa League home clash with Lille.