CELTIC have landed their first catch of the January transfer window. Daily Record are reporting the Hoops have fought off interest from a host of top clubs-as well as West Ham and Leicester- to land young winger Bruno Davidson.
Apparently wide boy Bruno had also been scouted by Liverpool and Southampton, so Celtic signing the product of the famed Edinburgh boys club Hutchinson Vale is a good piece of business. Of course the lad will start immediately in the development squad but like all good football professionals it seems Nick Hammond et al have started off with the footballing acquisition equivalent of a pre-season friendly just to get their touch in. An added plus is it gets it right up Brendan Rodgers. Sounds like good work all round.
That touch also looks like it will need to be found quickly. The trail appears to have gone cold on Andraz Sporar from Slovan Bratislava, with the dogs now barking out the name of Le Havre’s Tino Kadewere.
It’s been reported in RMC in France that Celtic just may even have made not quite a bid as such, instead a ‘concrete approach’.
Strange quote you may think but it smacks of our CEO, he knows all about driveways after all. The quote may make little sense to some but I think Pistol Pete is sending a big hint via the French press that young Tino is heading to Paradise. Possibly.
Celts do seem to have some competition from Al-Rayan of Qatar and Flamengo of Brazil. The report also states that Lyon and Marseille are also keen. Considering his goal scoring record in Ligue 2 in France reads 17 goals in 19 games it’s no wonder the 24 year old Zimbabwe international is attracting interest. Let’s hope Celtic are bang in contention as this looks a far more promising striker than some of the other we’ve been linked with.
Have a look for yourselves and you can get your hopes raised just like me.
If Sporar and Kadawere do rock up together in this transfer window you can guarantee one thing. French Eddy is shipping out. He’s already been linked in ’90 Min’ with a move to Tottenham.
As well as links with Chelsea and Manchester United it looks that at least Edouard will have a host of big clubs with deep pockets vying for his signature. The obvious preference for a sale would be Tottenham with Victor Wanyama as a sweetener on the deal. But with Edouard making no noises about wishing to move on and Celtic having the not insignificant double of 9 in a row and a European Final in Gdansk in May to aim for, there would be mutiny in Paradise if this deal went through in January. In short there’s more chance of Peter Lawwell standing up to the SFA than French Eddy heading south in this window.
One player certainly on his way south is Scotty Sinclair. The Celtic wide man finally looks to be on his way out of Celtic after it was reported by BBC Sport that he is to fly home from tour Dubai training camp to have signing talks with Preston North End.
It’s no surprise to see high earner leave, the only real shock is the destination of Preston North End. Still they are vying for a Championship playoff spot and Manager Alex Neil has been flirting with a bid since the summer so it’s no surprise that Scotty would simply choose to go somewhere that he knows he’s wanted. Let’s be honest it’s a bit of a riddy when you get Lewis Morgan playing ahead of you. When that happens the writing is on the wall at its time to get out of Dodge.
A Treble Treble winner, an Invincible and a player I must admit I have great admiration for, I just wish had been treated with a little more respect in his final days in the Hoops. I hope he still holds the Club in high regard despite it all, as we certainly enjoyed his contribution to some of the most amazing times to support Celtic. Good luck to him. It is a little known fact Scotty sees himself as a scout in years to come and it may be he can develop that ambition at Preston. I must admit his eye for talent has already proved to be exceptional. He’ll make a big success of that.
Last time out we mentioned Celtic were interested in Stoke’s Tyrese Campbell. Out of contract in the summer it’s one of those cross border deals we love to try and pull off. Well he’s now in the Stoke first team and the son of Kevin Campbell, of Everton and Arsenal fame is already banging in the goals, but that new contract still isn’t signed.
The choice of destination after the contract expiry has just been made a darn site easier for the young striker, with ‘the’ Rangers also apparently joining the ‘race’ for his services. Nothing like the thought of ending up at Ibrox to sharpen the thought process. I’d expect he may not even wait until the summer. He’s probably already asking his old man for a lift up the road and sharpish.
The final one that caught my eye over the last few days was that of young Everton defender Lewis Gibson, the Liverpool Echo is reporting with six months left on his deal he’s still not feeling the love from the Toffees.
The 19 year old has been at Everton for two years now and hasn’t had a sniff of football.
This one is intriguing for two reasons. 1) Nick Hammond’s ultimate ambition is to fill the Celtic first team squad with cross border deals-buy em cheap stack em high-and 2) I think he fits the bill for Neil Lennon.
Lennon would have to go some to persuade Lawwell and Hammond that centre half is a priority signing area with Ajer, Jullien, Bitton, ElHamed and Simunovic already vying for space. So the best way to sneak one through would either be a young project or a cheap option. This lad is both. It’s got ‘certainty’ written all over it.
Feyenoord and AZ Alkmaar have been linked with a permanent move for Gibson while he’s also been linked with loan moves to Ipswich at Rotherham. Given the competition is unappealing to say the least it is time to strike on this one. The alternatives to a Celtic move seem about as appealing as receiving a gift voucher to Alfredo Morelos barber.
One deal that looks dead in the water is Celtic’s alleged attempt to sign Cruzeiro contract rebel Fabricio Bruno. This one has been doing the rounds. We’ve had Lenny state his interest followed by news the Brazilian Centre half had been in court (twice) to try and end his contract with his Brazilian club, before it came to light his agent, or at least one of them had attempted to nick some documents from the Cruzeiro president’s office when trying to ‘negotiate’ a way out for his client.
The news therefore that Bruno is heading to Italian Serie B side RB Bragantino is rather welcome. It would appear we may have dodged a bullet. Though there may be a place for his agent. Perhaps he could put those sticky fingers to work and track down the infamous Five-way agreement. Worth asking.
Niall J
And then there’s this one that’s certainly worth keeping an eye on.
🇵🇱 | Patryk Klimala
Celtic are targeting Poland U21 striker Patryk Klimala as we continue our search for a striker.
The 21 year old still has 18 months left on his contract at Jagiellonia Bialystok but it's understood there's a €4M buy out clause.pic.twitter.com/whBsio1Hy7
— Everything Celtic (@aboutceltic) January 7, 2020
