GAVIN STRACHAN looks set to join Celtic as the club’s first team coach, replacing Damien Duff. Strachan, 41, is the son of Gordon – who managed the club for four years and is set to leave his role at Peterborough for the role at Celtic Park.
Posh’s Barry Fry confirmed yesterday that deals had been agreed and compensation was the only outstanding issue between the League One side and the Scottish Champions. However, the appointment of the Strachan could hasten the pursuit of 28-goal striker Ivan Toney.
The League One hit man was reportedly a target of Neil Lennon’s side should Odsonne Edouard be poached away in the transfer window. However, Strachan’s impending appointment could steer Toney to Celtic Park under the promise of first team football at a higher level.
The club’s chairman said ‘earlier this month that Celtic and other clubs won’t get a bargain if they are to seal the signature of Toney following Peterborough’s failure to get promoted to the Championship.
Posh are going to sell and Celtic’s latest recruit could help influence the decision of both club and player to sell the Scottish Champions to the 24-year-old. In 268 career appearances, Toney has netted 92 times which is a lot of games for a 24-year-old. Should Celtic manage to get a deal in place for him, Bayo and Klimala should be allowed loan spells away from the club in order to get first team football.
Toney was the subject of an £8m bid from Brentford in January but the club held firm as they chased promotion. Club Chairman, Darragh MacAnthony, confirmed that he would be selling Toney following Posh narrowly missing out on playoff places after the League One season was curtailed.
“We had multiple clubs try and buy him in January, we promised Ivan if we weren’t in the Championship next season we would sell him.
“We don’t sell our players cheap, the pandemic won’t affect that.
“ I can envisage he will probably go to the top two or three Championship clubs if not the bottom ten Premier League clubs.
“I think some of the Premier League clubs won’t do as much international shopping and might go domestic, and Ivan’s physicality is suited to playing at the highest level.
“ He’s got physicality, pace and character – Newcastle should probably never have sold him to us. But we spent a lot of money buying him.
“He’s been the best player in League One this season, hopefully he will get his golden boot.”
£8m is an awful lot of money to part with; although if Edouard leave following the current season, there will be a huge void to fill and the club need to make sure that they are not caught cold by the departure of a truly top player.
