Celtic legend Davie Provan has advised the reigning Scottish champions to buy a striker in the upcoming January transfer window. The Hoops are currently short of options up top and were even forced to play Lewis Morgan as a number 9 in the recent absence of Odsonne Edouard through injury.
A new striker should be on top of Neil Lennon’s priority list when the winter transfer window opens in January. There is not much striking depth at Celtic at the moment. Leigh Griffiths has struggled with both form and fitness for quite some time now and is no longer a striker that the team can depend on. On the other hand, Vakoun Issouf Bayo is yet to make an impression at Parkhead since his arrival and might soon be heading out of the club if his troubles continue.
As a result, any long term injury to Odsonne Edouard could have huge consequences on the team. We just saw a small preview of that when the Frenchman was out for a couple of weeks and Lennon was forced to deploy Lewis Morgan at striker.
In his column in the Scottish Sun, Davie Provan was clear about what the board need to give Neil Lennon in January as the Hoops look to win a historical ninth straight league title. The Celtic wrote:
“If the suits in the Celtic Park boardroom know anything about this game, they’ll recognise Lennon needs help. If Odsonne Edouard were to get injured, Celts would be in bother.
“While it was good to see Leigh Griffiths make his first start since August against Cluj, Lenny can’t gamble on the wee man getting back to his best. Celtic have to sign another centre forward in January. There are plenty of strikers warming the bench in the EPL who would bite your hand off for a loan spell in Glasgow.
“No disrespect to Mikey Johnson and Lewis Morgan, who have been asked to play through the middle in recent derbies, but it hasn’t worked. Under Lennon, Celtic have ditched a slow build-up in favour of quicker forward passes. It’s a hell of a lot easier to get up the pitch if you’ve a proper striker taking the ball in.
“With the league looking tight, signing another No 9 could make the difference for Lennon. Either way, he’ll know the days of Celts coasting to the title are over.”
Celtic will be taking a huge risk if they decide to not buy a striker in the inter transfer window. While they do have three recognised strikers at the club, two of them have contributed almost nothing this season. And it is only for so long that Odsonne Edouard can carry all the load by himself before injury strikes!
