As Stuart Armstrong edges nearer towards a move to Southampton, Celtic will look to see if they need to fill the void left by the 26-year-old midfielder.
The quoted figure is between £7m and £10m, either of these figures – and all in between – proves to be very good business (this has been explained this morning on The Celtic Star – see HERE).
Armstrong apparently wanted to move to England from Dundee Utd, but United’s chairman Stephen Thompson decided to accept the firm Celtic offer instead of waiting on proposed English moves developing.
Armstrong is an intelligent guy, he wants to reap the rewards that his footballing abilities offer and with no real affinity to Celtic, the payday of England has proven too much and Southampton look to Paradise to source their talent.
On the open top bus he was interviewed and said that he didn’t realise just how big a club Celtic was until then! If that was Ntcham saying that you could understand his surprise but for a Scottish player, it seemed rather strange. Inverness must be further away than I thought.
Last season we only saw a few glimpses of Armstrong at his best, as he played through a hernia problem. A direct player on his day, with an eye for goal, Armstrong endeared the supporters with his striking abilities in the invincible season where he netted 17 in 47 appearances across the board.
His fine hair and his song will be missed at Celtic Park. There’s no doubting that. However, Celtic have handled the situation well. When the one year extension was agreed last summer it was done so under the condition that Celtic would not be difficult to deal with this summer, so the player’s agent has had 12 months to line up a deal with a Premier League club and frankly Southampton look like a better options than the ones he had last time around. Imagine going to West Brom last summer – that would have been a season from hell.
Celtic have got a good price for a want-away player and could even improve the midfield with various options – we have Scott Brown, Olivier Ntcham, Callum McGregor, Koussai Eboue, Nir Bitton and of course Tom Rogic – all vying for the starting berths.
There are of course, alternative options that Brendan Rodgers will be looking at and here is a selection of his options:
Ryan Christie – the ex-Aberdeen loanee spent 18 months in the Granite city before returning to Lennoxtown this summer in the hope to force his way into Brendan Rodgers’ plans. The 23-year-old has scored 14 goals in 49 appearances for the Dons and could potentially replace Armstrong due to his eye for goal and direct nature. He’s a player that’s not scared to take a shot at goal, something that was missing last season.
Lewis Morgan – signed from St Mirren in January, Morgan has played in the ‘10’ role for the Buddies as they sealed the Championship title. His pace, skill and eye for goal would be ideal through the middle; however, Brendan would probably be better suited playing the midfielder in his natural wide berth.
John McGinn – there has always been a fair bit of speculation surrounding John McGinn moving to Celtic and this summer could prove to be the climax of the story. A player, and family, with a strong connection to the club would be available at a reasonable price with leverage of Scott Allan and just a year remaining on his contract. McGinn’s style is maybe not so akin to Armstrong but he has an eye for goal and the ability to get in amongst it. His style was showcased in the matches against Celtic last season where he sparkled as a commanding influence in the midfield. Expect Celtic to move for the player shortly.
Dylan McGeouch – McGinn’s midfield partner is an outsider for candidates to replace Armstrong but it’s not as mad as it sounds. Hear me out. McGeouch is undoubtably of a good calibre, he has proven ability in the league – with Celtic and Hibs. He wouldn’t be a star in the team but he’d play a vital role in the squad as they look to consolidate their control over Scotland and progress in Europe. This could be even more appealing considering that McGeouch would be available on a free transfer. He was spotted at Lennoxtown a few days before winning the Man of the Match award in Hibs’ 2-1 win over Celtic at Easter Road – the day we could have won the league. McGeouch is a player that Brendan Rodgers likes.
Lewis Faulds
