Rapid Vienna manager Dietmar Kuhbauer has bemoaned the loss of Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo this summer.
The Belgian left-back recently became Neil Lennon’s third acquisition of the window, and made his Hoops debut during last week’s victory over Sarajevo.
The 24-year-old looked pretty assured on his first outing but that isn’t likely to have surprised Rapid boss Kuhbauer. The Daily Record have some quotes from the Austrian talking about his now former player.
“We worked so hard last season on a 3-5-2 system, but the loss of Boli Bolingoli has hurt us terribly”, he said.
“He would have raced up the left wing like a rocket in this system. He’s a massive loss.
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“And he is proving to be incredibly difficult to replace. Any time we want to look at a player, it seems his value goes up by hundreds of thousands because the selling club knows we have money.
“Boli has left a big hole in our team.”
Bolingoli-Mbombo was a hit at Rapid
Of course, Kuhbauer’s comments about our new left-back are pretty positive. However, it may be the Austrian’s quote about recruiting players that resonates most with Celtic fans.
Given the current situation with Kieran Tierney, it is very possible that Celtic will be in the market for another full-back very soon. Just like has happened with Rapid, selling clubs may up their asking price for left-backs because they know Tierney is offski.
It’s not as if Celtic can hide the fact they’re going for a Tierney replacement either. The very fact we’re after another left-back would suggest that the Scotland international is away.
We may be forced to pay over the odds for some players this summer if we do generate revenue from a big sale or two. The club must make sure they’re not paying over the odds for anyone – no matter age, position or experience.