It’s no secret that one of our January priorities is to sign a striker before the month is out, with plenty of names having been thrown into the mix.
The latest name to have been thrown into the ring is Billy Sharp of Sheffield United (The Guardian). However, perhaps the most pertinent name at the moment is Slovan Bratislava’s Andraz Sporar. Neil Lennon has openly touched on the Slovenian striker (Scottish Sun), and it looks likely that we’ll field a bid at some stage.
Yet as we get ready to focus on targets we will most definitely be after this January, what about the other strikers we’ve been linked with?
Well, here’s three strikers the Hoops have apparently targeted that don’t look like coming to Parkhead by the end of the month:
1. Billel Omrani
Was there ever a more knee-jerk reaction to a match than our link to Cluj’s Billel Omrani was?
Celtic were knocked out of the Champions League by the Romanians back in August. Omrani was the hero for them at Celtic Park with a brace. However, in fairness, one was a penalty whilst the other was a rebound he couldn’t really miss.
After that, Romanian outlet GSP claimed that Celtic were set to sign the Frenchman for €3.3m. Omrani has since had the chance to play Celtic twice since then in the Europa League. In both matches he was incredibly poor, and ended up spending more time on the deck than he did on his feet.
Celtic haven’t seemed to follow up any initial interest we may have had. There have been no further reports on things, and Neil Lennon hasn’t answered any questions on him recently either. It looks like we can most certainly put a cross through this one.
2. Lawrence Shankland
Some Celtic fans have never been keen on this one, but apparently the club has been. According to the Daily Record, Celtic sent Tosh McKinlay to go and scout him as he bagged a hat-trick against Morton for Dundee United earlier on this season.
It’s difficult to deny he’s having a sparkling campaign too. He’s managed to net 21 times for Utd in 22 appearances for them (Transfermarkt). But it’s a different kettle of fish playing in the Championship than it is playing for Celtic. The fact it’s so big a step-up is likely why so many fans are questioning the idea.
It doesn’t help that Robbie Neilson has effectively said he isn’t for sale this summer. The United boss believes his club won’t receive the cash they want for Shankland, and that suggests they want a substantial amount (Evening Telegraph). All of these factors combined makes this deal highly unlikely to happen this January.
3. Jordan Rhodes
It was the Scottish Sun who hit out with a report claiming that the Hoops were looking to sign Jordan Rhodes on loan. The former Scotland international has struggled to make himself a Premier League footballer, spending the majority of the last decade in the Championship.
He scored his only three goals of the season back on December 14th at Nottingham Forest, and that’s sparked a run of four more appearances for the Owls. He was linked with Celtic at a time when he wasn’t getting any game-time whatsoever. Rhodes had only started one game before his three goals at Forest (Transfermarkt).
His recent return to the first-team makes it unlikely we’ll make any sort of loan move for him now. Football Insider also reported that Rhodes was going to rebuff any interest regardless.
You also have to question the loan aspect of this move. Would Celtic fans really want their new striker to be a temporary one? Everything about this deal screams no, and that’s why Rhodes in unlikely to head up to Scotland this month.
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