The 5 pieces of transfer work Celtic will still want to complete as recruitment drive ends

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So we know that Celtic have all but finalised their signings for the month unless something out of the ordinary comes up.

That’s the message that was being hammered home by Ange Postecoglou last Thursday as he appeared fed up of the rumours and speculation [Sky Sports].

Whether something comes up or not remains to be seen. It could be the case that an exciting young talent pops up on Celtic’s radar. Or perhaps an upgrade on what we currently have becomes available at a bargain price. You can never really predict what will happen in a January window.

However, it’s important we don’t mistaken that for our work being done in the transfer window being done overall. Far from it. In fact, you could say Celtic’s biggest goal of January is still to be complete – getting rid of the deadwood.

It’s going to be extremely difficult getting rid of every single player in the squad deemed surplus to requirements by Ange. But it’s clear the Hoops want rid of Vasilis Barkas, Albian Ajeti, and Boli Bolingoli if the opportunity arises [Daily Record].

In addition to that, there are talented youngsters who have had first-team experience but need to be playing regularly for their development. Celtic did well to get Liam Shaw a move to Motherwell, but they’ll be looking to do the same for Osaze Urhoghide and Adam Montgomery too. 2 players who have well since bypassed youth or Lowland League football.

Celtic have a busy second half of January on their plate; just not how we imagined

Celtic have already recruited 4 players this month alone. Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate, Yosuke Ideguchi, and Johnny Kenny are all in the door. Kenny may be one for the future, but the rest are all being eyed up for immediate first-team exposure. If we were told before the new year that 3 first-team signings were arriving, we’d have been delighted.

So the Hoops can’t be criticised for stating their work is over. The only difference this year is that we’ve worked efficiently and strengthened early. Just think back to that disastrous January of last year when the only signing was Jonjoe Kenny on loan from Everton on deadline day. The club desperately needed a centre-back and failed to sign one – remember the Ben Davies disaster?

Now, the only work we’re left with is getting some wages off the bill to give us a head start going into the summer and to provide young talents with some first-team exposure elsewhere.

It’s looking promising with regards to Urhoghide and Montgomery. The former is said to be interesting Dundee even if that one has stalled in recent days [The Courier]. Adam will undoubtedly have interest given his impressive performances in the Hoops too.

But getting rid of Barkas, Boli, and Ajeti will be the tough part for Celtic. All 3 remain under healthy, lucrative contracts whilst interest appears to have been dry. Outside of some reports of Turkish speculation for Barkas, we’ve had nothing that really advances any of these players’ departures.

If Celtic can somehow get all of these departures sewn up, they’ll be absolutely thrilled with their January progress. But there is still major work to be done, even if no new signings come through the door.

In other news, Dundee boss addresses Leigh Griffiths situation after Celtic reportedly terminate contract