£9m plus: Pundit says Celtic can and should break transfer record this summer

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Murdo MacLeod wants Celtic to go all out and secure a blockbuster striker signing this summer, breaking the transfer record.

Odsonne Edouard is expected to leave the club for a healthy amount of cash after years of development at the Hoops.

With Albian Ajeti miles away from the first-team and Leigh Griffiths in a constant battle for fitness, we badly need a talismanic striker in the door.

That’ll cost money, of course, but MacLeod reckons that’s what needed from the club in the next transfer window.

Speaking to The Sunday Post, the former Celtic player and coach said: “Odsonne Edouard has been very good for Celtic in the past three years but he wasn’t as hot as everyone at Celtic wanted him to be in the past nine months.

“I think the team still created plenty of chances but the players just weren’t as lethal as they’d been previously. Points were dropped by missing chances.

“In the past seven or eight years Celtic brought in a number of strikers that cost around about the £2m mark. One or two of them were very good but too many of them didn’t hold up.

“That’s why they need to get it right this summer and if that means breaking their transfer record then that’s what they have to do. But I know that is easier said than done. It’s up to the manager and his scouting staff to source someone out of the top drawer.”

Celtic transfer record is reported to be £9m

Sky Sports reported in June 2018 that Celtic signed up Edouard from Paris Saint-Germain for a £9m fee, so the bar is pretty high. It feels unlikely the Bhoys will be spending that amount of cash on player this year.

Not least because the scale of the rebuild means every penny definitely counts this summer, even if the overall transfer spend is on the high side.

Still, if the right player comes along, Celtic should show a bit of ambition and bite. The Ivan Toney saga is well-worn ground by now, but that still feels like a pretty big lesson that the club need to learn from in the modern market.

Project signings like Patryk Klimala and Vakoun Bayo are all well and good, but that’s definitely not what we need ahead of the new season.

Ultimately it’s about the quality of the player we’re bringing in, not how much they cost.

In other news, Champions League is on: Celtic overtake confirmed after bad result for SWPL rivals.