“Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou will show ruthless streak in January transfer window” says Tam McManus…
As the January transfer window fast approached, once again the boss is looking at tying up loose ends early and keeping the momentum going at Celtic Park. Last year our Japanese trio of Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate and Yosuke Ideguchi were joined alongside Matt O’Riley in becoming new Hoops’ signings.
The men from the J-League were signed up prior to the opening of the winter window and Ange verbalised his belief that it serves the club better to be punctual about prospective additions in the marketplace. Matt O’Riley was sought out after the breaking down of the deal for Aussie Riley McGree (who’s now finding out the grass isn’t greener with Middlesbrough!) and we moved swiftly to thrash out a deal with MK Dons.
So far, Ange has sealed a deal for Japanese defensive talent, Yuki Kobayashi, on a five-year deal from Vissel Kobe. The player will sign on freedom of contract in another astute move from the Parkhead side. It’s a market that Postecoglou knows well and has had success in before so it makes perfect sense this one.
Then last night, news broke that we were monitoring Canada right-back, Alistair Johnston, who had an excellent game in the heart of the Canadian defence subduing the threat from Belgium’s team of superstar footballers. In truth they were bitterly unlucky to come away with nothing in the end up as they ran Roberto Martinez’s side ragged. Johnston’s athleticism was a huge part of that and he was full of energy and commitment throughout the game.
Today it emerged from a North American source that Celtic are at ‘advanced talks’ with the defender who plays for CF Montreal in the MLS. The Celtic Star reported on this earlier today which you can read all about here. But it now appears that Ange has got his two minimum that he claimed he would bring in come the New Year. The question is who else will he have on his radar, with many supporters and pundits anticipating a striker arriving.
The move for Alistair Johnston may indeed have been an after-thought as the speculation around Croatian international full-back Josip Juranovic growing by the day. Ange said he won’t be afraid to chop and change if he feels he needs to and it looks like he will be following through on that promise to be ruthless in the marketplace. Forward planning is key to our club and has been a major cause of frustration for the Celtic fanbase that our previous regime always lagged in this area.
Tam McManus had only yesterday pointed out that he reckons Ange Postecoglou would be ruthless come the New Year with regard his squad building and maintenance. Speaking to PLZ Soccer, the former Hibs man posited the view that Ange will use this to streamline his squad with ‘quality over quantity’ and cull some of the deadwood who haven’t really contributed any meaningful game time.
Watch the pundit talk Ange Postecoglou and Celtic’s January transfer plans below.
🗣 ‘Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou will show ruthless streak in January transfer window’
Do you agree with @The_Tman10?
WATCH HERE ➡️ https://t.co/8Q9fseWI59
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— PLZ Soccer (@PLZSoccer) November 23, 2022
Paul Gillespie
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