Ange Postecoglou has formally closed the transfer window as far as incomings are concerned with the Australian declaring himself more than satisfied with the work that the club have down in this his fourth transfer window as the Celtic manager.
“There won’t be any more incomings. In terms of outgoings, there are still some things happening in the background. Again nothing confirmed yet,” was his opening remark at today’s Media Conference ahead of the visit from Livingston tomorrow evening in the Scottish Premiership which will be played in front of another sell-out capacity crowd at the home of the Scottish Champions.
On the longest running saga of this transfer window, the departure of Giorgos Giakoumakis the Celtic boss gave yet another update confirming that it’s still not over the line, although everyone now expects it to go through and for the Greece international striker to travel to the States to sign for MLS side Atlanta United.
“Again it is ongoing,” Ange said. “Discussions are taking place but nothing has been finalised. We are getting to the tail end of it one way or another and we’ll get a conclusion in the next 24 hours. Nothing concluded yet just ongoing discussions.”
Asked for his assessment of this transfer window from his point of view, Postecoglou reckons that the club has managed to get everything they wanted to do done. “From my perspective everything we set out to do and wanted to get done in this window we have got there.
“We went into it with the knowledge that there were a couple of areas that we wanted to strengthen and a couple of areas where there would have been more than likely to see some exits. To get ahead of it we wanted to do some business so we didn’t get caught short.
“One area was right back with Josip but we got Alistair in nice and early which was pleasing. The other one was Giako’s future. Again if we hadn’t brought Oh in then we could have been in this position now and really scrambling around to see what we needed in that area. We’ve also added Tomok and Yuki who are guys we identified pretty early on that we wanted to bring in.
“Depending on the outgoings with Josip and Giako going out we have brought four players in under the age of 24 for less money than we have had to pay out. From that perspective, our objectives going into the window have been achieved. The success of that will bear fruit over the next few months and beyond as how well the new players contribute. To be fair they’ve already made a contribution,” Ange said.
Most of the attention in the closing hours of the transfer window with therefore centre on any outgoing involving fringe players who have not been getting regular game-time and the manager revealed that up to five players could leave depending on how the opportunities being presented to them pan out over the next few hours. However no other regular starter will be leaving the club in this window outside of Juranovic and Giakoumakis.
“We’ve already brought in players to insulate from the ones that are leaving,” Ange stated. ” Although the obvious ones are the guys that haven’t played a lot of football for us. If they find opportunities or seek opportunities elsewhere then we are comfortable with that but it has to suit all parties.
“If that happens then I am really comfortable that we have brought in four good, young players who will be contributors this year and beyond. We will see what happens over the next few hours. If the guys who have not played a lot of football are looking for opportunities elsewhere and they exist and it suits all parties then we will try and make it happen,” the Celtic manager said.
Asked by one of the hacks from the BBC specifically about Oliver Abildgaard and Yosuke Ideguchi Ange retorted: “They fit the definition of what I just said. You are not really on Mastermind at the moment where you have figured out some drips I am giving you.
“I have said guys that haven’t played regularly and they definitely fit that bill. For us, that’s kind of where we are at in terms of the squad right now. Anyone who has played football and has been a meaningful contributor won’t be leaving in this window.
‘The ones who leave are the ones who haven’t got a lot of regular game time and there are four or five of them in the squad. I am not going to talk about individuals because if nothing happens I don’t want that to become that players are staying reluctantly. There are four or five in that category, two of whom you mentioned who are exploring opportunities right now.”
Here’s Ange’s Media Conference courtesy of Celtic’s You Tube channel…
