We know it’s early, and there’s plenty of time to go, but the early signs regarding Celtic’s transfer targets are a little underwhelming.
Last weekend the club suffered a monumental blow. A 1-0 defeat to Steven Gerrard’s Rangers was a sign that something has to be done this month. In fact – something massive needs to be done this month.
Celtic, like it or not, don’t now have that massive distance between themselves and their rivals as we all thought. In fact, if you look at the table, the gap (should Celtic win their game in-hand) is just three points. It’s hardly convincing.
Therefore, this January is supposed to be a statement of intent from the board. A window where the club spend the vast amounts of money they have at their disposal to really push ahead from their rivals.
Instead, however, there doesn’t appear to be much in the way of quality targets being linked with the club.
Timothy Weah could be a solid deal, but he’s only on loan. The only way that signing would’ve been a massive coup is if it was for 18 months. Instead, he’ll be gone pretty soon after he’s introduced himself.
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Hopefully no lack of ambition this month
Then there’s Vakoun Issouf Bayo. This is meant to be the second forward that’s being targeted to help Odsonne Edouard’s burden. Yet, he’s an unknown quantity with just a handful of goals in Slovakia’s top-flight.
Oliver Burke would’ve been an interesting one had he signed, but he’s fallen away in recent years. The former Leipzig man would also only come to Glasgow on a loan deal too.
Timothy Castagne was promising, but Celtic’s interest is likely to die down now that a £10million price-tag has been placed on him. As usual, it feels as though the club like to flirt with potential big-money signings before backing away.
Over the last couple of weeks and the start of January, there’s not much to get too excited about.
Last year Celtic fans had the same issue. Supporters waited and waited on big players to be linked after stockpiling cash, but they hardly got a bone.
It’s very early days, but it just can’t be the same this year. The title cannot be risked, or else the board will be hounded as they never have before – regardless of their bank balance.