With the transfer window at the halfway point and open for another two weeks Celtic have set about trying to improve the squad. It’s looking promising.
So far the striking department has been addressed first with the arrival of Polish Under 21 player Patryk Klimala from Jagiellonia Białystok.
Neil Lennon made it clear that Odsonne Edouard needed help. He’s got it now and it’s good to see we aren’t scrambling around in the loan market as we did last January. Although the likes of Timo Weah, Oliver Burke and Jeremy Toljan gave us impetus at a crucial stage they weren’t part of a long term plan.
Klimala is a permanent signing with long term potential to develop and a fair old knack already for hitting the net. Apparently the upward trajectory in terms of attitude and performance over the last six months has been impressive from the young lad. Celtic could well be about to see the benefit of the players undoubted ambition. Not bad for someone whose immediate role is to play second fiddle to a France under 21 star.
Ismaila Soro from Israeli side Bnei Yehuda is a deal that also looks close to being concluded. If you were looking at what position after Centre forward needed addressing, then help for Brown and McGregor in the middle of the park would have been next in line.
Again it looks like Celtic are close to addressing this with the signing of the Ivory Coast midfielder. Soro looks like he has all the battling qualities required to mix it in Scotland and a touch of class and mobility in his position to add to our European depth to boot.
After that what do we really need? A centre half possibly. With Jozo Simunovic and Hatem Abd Elhamed’s injury record leaving only Nir Bitton as the only real cover when either of those players are injured, then it may be prudent to look for a loan signing or a young lad to come in much like the Jeremie Frimpong deal.
With Christopher Jullien and Kris Ajer building up a good understanding at home and abroad there is no way we’ll risk instability at the back by breaking that partnership up. They are first choice, anyone else is adding depth.
It has been good then to hear Celtic are looking to Paris again and as we did with Odsonne Edouard. Offering a talented young player blocked in his development by multi-million pound stock piled footballers, a chance to first team exposure he’s never likely to see in Ligue 1 with his current club.
If as reported Celtic are keen on Moussa Sissako from PSG then this sort of deal fits the bill. The Celtic Star was sharp to this interest a few weeks back and it looks, as long as there is a healthy sell on percentage involved, that PSG are open to discussions over the 19 year old defender. It would certainly make sense.
The Fabricio Bruno from Cruzeiro deal looked scuppered due to questionable agents and legal wrangles. Now it has been reported Bruno has bought himself out of his contract it may well be one Celtic could revisit-but given it’s been a murky old deal up to now we may prefer to focus on young Sissako.
If Celtic come out of this window with three players to help the spine of the team it’s advantage to us. Our nearest rivals seem quiet for some unknown reason in the window and spending this money and adding to the depth will push us on and send a message we are willing to invest from a position of strength.
We’ve already moved on a couple with Scotty Sinclair heading to Preston and Lewis Morgan heading to Miami. We’ve balanced those books in terms of wages but we look like we’re willing to pay some transfer funds up front. It almost looks like we’ve been planning this in advance. This will never catch on.
Others may go. With the likes of Craig Gordon, Eboue Kouassi and Jack Hendry surplus to requirements and picking up wages for little involvement it would make sense to find a route out now if we can.
Others like Vakoum Bayo and Leigh Griffiths may feel loan deals would be worth considering for the players themselves. In Bayo’s case a Scottish Premier League side on loan would make good sense for his development but would it really help Celtic?
In Griffith’s case it’s a run of games and goals to get his confidence up that he probably needs but again is it more important that we have him around?
I think my preference would be to get Bayo fit and keep him as cover and re-examine the striking department in more detail in May.
Lennon had already said he needed reinforcements up front. Two players leaving and only one coming in doesn’t equate to strengthening, it rather means the opposite. One injury to Edouard and we start to look a little lightweight again up top.
That also means if Griffiths ships out we are still shy of what the manager wanted by way of depth up front, unless of course Lenny was considering Bayo or Griffiths for a loan deal when he was factoring in the new striker.
If so, between the two strikers, Griffiths need for games and goals is more pressing. On all known form he remains the best option of the ostracised pair but it is match sharpness and confidence that’s holding him back. A loan deal elsewhere and he could get his mojo back. All parties would benefit from that.
At the halfway point and with one player in and a couple of more being heavily linked, it is starting to look like a promising transfer window. Let’s hope by the end of the month it is also a successful one.
Niall J
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