Dodgy loan signings and projects: What to expect from Celtic in transfer deadline week

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Celtic are entering transfer deadline week, and there’s still a bit of work to be done on Neil Lennon’s squad.

You wouldn’t know it though, considering the silence so far on the transfer front this month.

Peter Lawwell, Nick Hammond and company, have until midnight on Monday, February 1st (into Tuesday morning) to complete their business for the season.

There are question marks about Lennon’s future, of course, but with our without the Irishman, we need players in a couple of key positions.

The centre of defence badly needs strengthening. Christopher Jullien is out of action for the foreseeable future. With Shane Duffy look as calamitous as ever, it’s an area of real concern.

Assistant manager John Kennedy has already admitted they’ve drawn up a shortlist of potential targets. Now it’s on the club to deliver.

A winger would be welcome too, with James Forrest still injured, Mikey Johnston only just getting up to speed and no other natural option outside of loanee Mohamed Elyounoussi.

What can we expect from Celtic in transfer deadline week?

I’m sorry to say but, you shouldn’t be getting your hopes up if you’re looking for something exciting between now and the deadline.

Even when things were looking rosy on and off the pitch at Celtic Park, January has never been a great month for us.

Let’s take a look at the incomings from recent winter transfer windows:

• January 2020: Patryk Klimala, Ismaila Soro.
• January 2019: Oli Burke (loan), Timo Weah (loan), Jeremy Toljan (loan), Vakoun Bayo, Marian Shved, Andrew Gutman, Manny Perez.
• January 2018: Charly Musonda (loan), Jack Hendry, Lewis Morgan, Marvin Compper, Scott Bain.
• January 2017: Eboue Kouassi
• January 2016: Patrick Roberts (loan), Colin Kazim-Richards, Erik Sviatchenko.

I’m not trying to stick the boot into Celtic here, but you may be noticing a pretty strong pattern from our last five winter windows.

The most exciting player on the list above is Ismaila Soro. It took him close to a year to make his way into the first-team.

It’s mostly a collection of dodgy loan signings, free transfers and project players.

So why would this week be any different?

Some of this may not be the club’s fault. There’s a cliche about it being a difficult month to recruit in for a reason.

Clubs are not keen on letting go of their best players in the middle of a season, and it’s hard to convince players to move outside of the summer when they might be better placed to drum up a better deal for themselves.

I’d settle for an Erik Sviatchenko and a Patrick Roberts right now though, to be honest with you. Not them specifically, but of that profile.

Will Celtic surprise us and deliver what we need in time for European qualifiers this summer?

In other news, Celtic fans have been poking fun at an excited media hyping up Rangers’ Invincibles credentials.