“I could see him come in”; John Hartson thinks Celtic’s latest transfer rumour could be a goer

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Celtic’s latest transfer rumour sees the club linked to Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Portuguese winger, Daniel Podence.

Tom Collomosse of The Daily Mail tweeted yesterday that the Hoops were following the players ‘situation’.

The attacker seems to be surplus to requirements at the English Premier League club and it seems that Brendan Rodgers may well have his eye on the 27-year-old.

Former Celtic striker, John Hartson, was asked what he thought about the links to the player and if he believed that the move to his old club could happen.

Hartson said [The Go Radio Football Show], “I could see him come in. He’s a player that’s been playing in the Premier League and Wolves.

“If Celtic were to get the right sort of deal over the line. I think he’s another player with quality. You look at Jota, we didn’t know anything about him. We took him out of Benfica’s second team and look at the success we had with him.

“So sometimes, you might have to just gamble on one or two players. It’s just a case of whether or not Celtic can get him in the sort of wage structure and obviously a fee for him.

“Because everybody knows now with Celtic going into the Champions League, they’ll think they can pay the Premier League transfer fees, but I don’t think Celtic are in the market to do that. So if they can get him on a reasonable deal, then why not?”

The link to Podence certainly does seem to have stirred up some excitement among the Celtic fans. But the player’s stats simply don’t justify the hype.

Over the last three seasons at Wolves, Podence has made 105 appearances. He has contributed just 16 goals and nine assists over that time.

Now many people will point to that and say that playing in the Premier League is tougher and the stats will be lower, so let’s look at his overall career.

In 311 games, Podence has found the back of the net 42 times and created 47 goals. That’s a goal every 7.4 games and an assist every 6.6 games. Not good reading for a player that’s going to cost circa £12m.

However, he has been capped at senior international level for Portugal. So the player clearly has a bit about him. Celtic just need to decide whether or not he is worth the kind of money Wolves are looking for.

In other news, Gustaf Lagerbielke’s appraisal by Elfsborg captain bodes well for Celtic