Luis Palma – “He knows why he is not playing all the time,” Reinaldo Rueda | OneFootball

Honduras boss Reinaldo Rueda has explained his reasons for benching Celtic winger Luis Palma for the game against El Salvador which Honduras won 2-0. It was a decent response after their 6-0 Gold Cup opener against Canada but for Palma it was more frustration as he lost his place in his national team where he is so used to be their talisman.

Honduras 2-0 Mexico Luis Palma celebrates his goal 2-0 of Honduras during the Quarterfinals first leg match between Honduras and Mexico as part of the Concacaf Nations League 2024-2025 at Francisco Morazan Stadium on November 15, 2024 in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Photo Adrian Macias, IMAGO (The Celtic Star)

“Luis Palma has had a difficult season through injuries and a lack of playing time. Our aim with Luis is to have him ready and fully fit for our vital World Cup qualifiers in September,” Reinaldo Rueda explained.

“I spoke to him before the tournament and explained this to him so he knows why he is not playing all the time.”

With his loan period at Olympiacos now over Palma will return to Celtic for pre-season training hoping to impress Brendan Rodgers or perhaps relieve some good news from his agent who will be busy trying to sort out a move for the Honduran winger.

“It’s one of my lowest moments in my career,” Luis Palma said after the 6-0 defeat to Canada.

Celtic’s Honduran winger Luis Palma suffered a horrendous time of it as his national team were defeated 6-0 by Canada CONCACAF Gold Cup match in Vancouver on Wednesday, with Palma substituted at half-time in the humiliating defeat.

Concacaf Gold Cup-Group Stage-Honduras at Canada Jun 17, 2025 Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN Canada defender Niko Sigur 23 dribbles against Honduras forward Luis Palma 17 in the first half during a group stage match of the 2025 Gold Cup at BC Place. Vancouver BC Place British Columbia Photo Simon Fearn

It was a terrible result for his country and an experience Palma has described as one of the lowest moments in his career, with The Herald reporting Luis as saying:

‘It’s very sad. It’s one of my lowest moments in my career. We have to accept we are going through a very difficult time at the moment. But we all know that was nowhere near acceptable. Now we have to use this as a learning experience for the rest of the tournament. The whole team is devastated by this setback.

Only hard work will help us. We have to turn over a new page. We didn’t have a clear idea of what we wanted to play, and it showed. This defeat hurts us all a lot.’

Luis Palma celebrates after scoring Celtic’s first goal during the UEFA Champions League match between Celtic FC and Feyenoord at Celtic Park Stadium on December 13, 2023. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Palma signed for Celtic as part of that disastrous summer 2023 transfer window, but initially he looked like a signing who might make the grade at Celtic. In his first season in the Hoops Palma contributed with some decent numbers, with an impressive 10 goals and 10 assists across all competitions in 36 appearances.

Arguably, that was the best we got from the winger, signed from Greek club Aris for £3.5m, and Palma spent the second half of last season on loan with Olympiakos.

That deal had an option to buy attached. However, Olympiakos chose not to take up that £3.3m purchase and Palma will now likely return to Celtic for pre-season training with his future somewhat in the balance, after making just three starts whilst out on loan.

You’d imagine Honduras’ game with Canada would have been a good opportunity for the winger to put himself in the shop window, so to be hooked at half-time must have been a tough one to take.

There is no denying Luis Palma is a talented player and apparently he is well liked in the Celtic changing room, however, at Celtic his lack of pace and acceleration stands out compared to the likes of Nicolas Kuhn and Daizen Maeda, who have in the main filled the wing options Palma would have hope to star in.

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Luis Palma celebrates after he scores his team’s third goal from the penalty spot during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic  and Aberdeen at Celtic Park on November 12, 2023.(Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

There remains hope that a good showing in pre-season may encourage other suitors to come forward over the course of the summer, otherwise it is hard to see Luis Palma featuring much for Celtic in the season ahead.

Niall J

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