Celtic added two more attacking options to Martin O’Neill’s arsenal on transfer deadline day.
One of the signings was the versatile forward Junior Adamu from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg, who are in the Europa League with Celtic, having secured a top-eight finish.
What’s interesting is that Adamu played more minutes in the Europa League for Freiburg (486 minutes), scoring one goal, than he did in the league (449 minutes) this season.
At least, in that sense, the 24-year-old has experience of Europe, as Bundesliga expert Derek Rae offered a brilliant lowdown on what Celtic’s new recruit is all about.
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Derek Rae’s lowdown on Celtic’s new signing Junior Adamu from the Bundesliga
Whilst the pressure playing for Celtic is higher than putting on the Freiburg shirt, Adamu is still taking a step down with this loan move.
As Derek Rae explained, ‘the week-to-week competition isn’t as great’ in Scotland compared to what Freiburg are used to.
But Rae is expecting Adamu to bring ‘a lot of pace’ to the table, and also be a ‘different option’ for the champions of Scotland, as he told Premier Sports.
“Adamu is a player who needs a bit of a boost,” said Rae. “This season hasn’t gone all that well for him. He hasn’t played enough.
“If you look at his goalscoring record, it’s not great, in terms of being a goalscorer. But, as we know in modern football, you can contribute as an attacker in other ways.
“He’s fast and versatile. I think that’s the good thing about him. You can pretty much play him across the line, depending on how Celtic set up. It probably makes sense.
“Saying this about Scottish football vs the Bundesliga. He probably needs to drop down a level a little bit. Celtic are, of course, a high level. One of the highest levels that we will find in Scottish football.
“But the week-to-week competition isn’t as great as it is for a club like SC Freiburg, who are also involved in Europe. I think it could be a good move for him short term.
“I wouldn’t expect goalscoring fireworks. But I would expect somebody who can help a lot on the pace front, and in terms of giving Celtic a different option.”
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The ‘one doubt’ about Adamu
Celtic loaned out Johnny Kenny to Bolton on deadline day, as well as Shin Yamada moving to Germany earlier in the month, as O’Neill refreshed the forward line.
As Celtic fans have already seen, Tomas Cvancara is certainly a striker, but Rae isn’t so sure about Adamu.
Whilst Adamu can play that centre-forward role, Rae feels that’s the ‘one doubt’ in his game, and that’s being that regular goalscoring number nine.
“He could be (an out-and-out striker),” added Rae. “He is somebody who could play there.
“I think that’s the one doubt about him. It’s about seven goals in what 67 total appearances. It’s a bit deceptive, isn’t it?
“We can throw out these numbers nowadays. But we aren’t counting how many times a player came on for two minutes at the end of a game.
“Looking at him last week in European competition. You got the feeling this is a player who SC Freiburg are almost putting in the shop window.”
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