Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton doesn’t think the Bhoys will be spending significant amounts of cash on a forward in the January transfer window.
Brendan Rodgers has the dilemma of potentially losing four attackers during the upcoming Asian Cup, which crosses over with several Celtic fixtures after the mid-season break.
It’s led some to speculate whether or not the Scottish champions will be on the hunt for new forward talent in the new year, with Lawrence Shankland’s name touted by former Celtic players such as Peter Grant on radio shows this week.
Sutton doesn’t think Shankland will be landing at Celtic Park anytime soon and would be surprised to see any big money spent on a striker in the upcoming window.
Chris Sutton has his say on Celtic transfer chatter
Writing in his Daily Record column this weekend, he said: “I’ve seen fans talking about signups as cover – but you can’t sign players for just three matches. There’s a clamour for another striker if Kyogo and Oh are away – along with Maeda – it leaves Celtic with a huge hole up front. But are they going to splash the cash to bring in someone who is going to play second fiddle to Kyogo and perhaps hinder the development of Oh? I doubt it.
“Some people have chucked Lawrence Shankland’s name into the frame. Forget about it. There are enough people trying to hawk him to Rangers and it remains to be seen if they can even afford the Hearts striker. Celtic can afford him – but he just doesn’t fit the bill. That’s not to say I don’t rate him as a player. It’s got nothing to do with his apparent allegiances either.
“He would probably score goals for Celtic. But are they going to spend maybe £3m or £4m on a 28-year-old back up? Highly unlikely.”
Sutton is right to say that Celtic shouldn’t be signing players based on short-term issues. However, for me, if there’s attacking talent out there that fits the bill for the Bhoys then January would be a good time to target them.
In the closing stages of the summer transfer window, Celtic were linked with players such as Mathias Kvistgaarden and Sydney van Hooijdonk, indicating that Rodgers was indeed looking to bolster his attacking options.
Celtic have to be constantly assessing the potential for quality additions to the squad and the Asian Cup simply sharpens minds on that, rather than forces the issue. Another striker to push Kyogo and Oh isn’t the worst idea in my book.
In other news, What Brendan Rodgers told Kyogo to break through big Celtic barrier.
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