Craig Beattie says Lawrence Shankland is good enough for Celtic

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Craig Beattie’s comments on Lawrence Shankland proves he rates him highly, and he’s encouraged him to move to Parkhead over Ibrox.

The former Celtic striker is working as a pundit these days after retiring from football earlier on this year. Beattie most recently played with Elgin City, and has stated that he’s a big fan of Shankland.

Celtic have had Shankland watched along with rivals Rangers (Daily Record). All clubs have been warned not to make a move for him, however, with Robbie Neilson claiming he won’t be leaving in January (Scottish Sun).

But after scoring his first Scotland goal on his debut, Beattie told the Open Goal podcast that Shankland is ready-made for the East End of Glasgow.

“I think he’s good enough for Celtic. I think he suits Celtic’s style more than Rangers. Celtic need a striker.

“The way Morelos plays, he creates a lot of the chances and makes a lot of the goals himself, whereas Celtic are more creative in the final third with their wide players.

“I think he would be more suited and think he could quite easily come into Celtic and do a job there. The problem is going to be, if it’s a January move, that Dundee United are going to want silly money for him.”

Celtic don’t need Shankland, regardless of his record

Granted, more firepower is always welcome. Shankland has scored over 90 Championship goals with Dundee United, Ayr, and St Mirren respectively.

However, if we’re talking in the millions bracket, which we undoubtedly are, you have to question whether we need Shankland. Surely we already have the necessary strikeforce to achieve our goals this season?

Odsonne Edouard won’t be getting displaced by Shankland anytime soon. He’s just off the back of scoring his ninth goal in four games for France under-21s.

Leigh Griffiths is perhaps Shankland’s most obvious competition if he signed. Griff hasn’t played for over a month with an injury knock. However, even then, if both are fit, are you seriously going to pick Shankland?

Celtic don’t “need” a striker like Beattie says. We already have three recognisable forwards who we believe can do a job if we trust them.

Sure, you can question whether Griff has been contributing enough or whether Vakoun Bayo is truly ready for the first-team. But the fact is that Celtic won’t be giving up on the pair anytime soon. Considering we play a one-striker system, why bring in Shankland?

And what about Jonathan Ofalabi? Do we just forget about him? After all, Lenny stated that he was on the cusp of the first-team when he signed in the summer (Sky Sports). Surely then he can’t be too far away. Shankland clearly has potential, but Celtic simply don’t need him.