The prospect of Scott McKenna to Celtic hasn’t been popular with sections of the Hoops support, but the Aberdeen centre-back seems open to leaving Pittodrie in January.
Back in June, the Scottish Sun reported that Celtic had a £5million bid rejected by the Dons for their star-man. However, days later, the Aberdeen Evening Express stated that club sources had told them that wasn’t the case.
But the Hoops most certainly did have an offer of £3.5m rejected in the summer of 2018 (BBC). Recent performances in the Scottish national team over 2019 have seemed to turn some Celtic fans off of the idea.
Yet McKenna is still eyeing up a January move from Pittodrie. Speaking in the Daily Record, the Dons man has touched on his hopes for the mid-season window.
“I just need to keep my head down and see what happens come January. It’s a big couple of months.
“International football is a step up from the SPFL. Teams will look at that and see if I can handle it. That’s always what I’m trying to prove to them.
“As soon as every window closes, the next six months is always big. It’s a big six months and the closer you get to the window.”
No need for McKenna to be on Celtic’s radar anymore
Should it come to January and McKenna is still open to a move, don’t expect Celtic to be bidding for him anytime soon.
Neil Lennon made it a priority to seriously strengthen at centre-back over the summer. Christopher Jullien and Hatem Abd Elhamed were both signed, and both have proven to be stalwarts at the heart of the defence when selected. Granted, Elhamed has mainly operated at right-back.
In addition to that, Celtic have Kristoffer Ajer, Jozo Simunovic, and the reliable Nir Bitton in reserve. With these five players in place, Celtic have gone on to lose just one game this season. Defensively, we’ve only conceded two or more goals on only four occasions out of 27 matches (Soccerbase). A fine return.
McKenna, meanwhile, failed to impress in a Dons defence that shipped four first-half goals to Celtic last month. He has four clean sheets out of a possible 16, and missed a part of the season with a thigh injury (Transfermarkt).
With supporters generally struggling to be impressed by McKenna, there’s no logic in Celtic making a move for him anytime soon. If he is to depart in January, England looks like the most realistic destination.
Lenny has stocked up well at centre-back over the last few months. Unfortunately for McKenna, he simply hasn’t proven to be any better than what we currently have.
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