One of the major talkings points heading into the January transfer window for Celtic are the rumours surrounding the current striker situation at the club.
The need for a third striker has been raised on A Celtic State of Mind’s Bulletin on multiple occasions since the summer, and, with the Asian Cup on the horizon, the bolstering of this position has become even more of a priority.
With Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda and Oh Hyeon-gyu all looking likely to be representing their nations at the Asian Cup, which runs from the 12th January until the 10th February, Celtic will be strikerless throughout that period.
If that doesn’t work out, though, then Celtic will indeed turn their attention towards the transfer market to pick up a third striker, and there has already been a number of names linked with a move to Parkhead.
Will we look at the strongest domestic option? A striker already on the radar from the summer? Or one with a familiar name and a close association to the club? These are the dilemmas currently facing Brendan Rodgers and the recruitment team.
Lawrence Shankland
There have been no concrete reports linking Celtic with a potential move for the Hearts captain, but that hasn’t stopped the murmurings from circulating on social media.
The forward has been linked with both Celtic and Rangers on multiple occasions over the last few years, and the speculation surrounding the forward has only been enhanced after his recent call-up and late equaliser for the Scotland national team in Tbilisi.
The 28-year-old has been in flying form this season and Hearts would likely demand around £3-4million for his services, but Celtic paying a fee like that for what would effectively be a third-choice striker doesn’t seem very likely.
Mathias Kvistgaarden
There was concrete interest in the forward towards the latter stages of the summer transfer window, with Celtic seeing a bid knocked back and refusing to continue the negotiations after Brondby’s asking price was deemed unacceptable.
Since then, Kvistgaarden has hinted towards some regrets about the negotiations as he didn’t have much of a say on the dealings. This didn’t unsettle the player, as he has been in prolific form this season, grabbing five goals and five assists in 15 league matches.
Clubs from the Bundesliga are apparently interested, but if Celtic are to make another approach in January, Brondby will have to lower their asking price to complete a deal with the Hoops.
Sydney van Hoojidonk
The surname is all-too-familiar to Celtic fans, with Sydney of course being the son of former Celt Pierre.
Playing as a forward, the 23-year-old Dutchman has been deemed out of favour at Serie A club Bologna ever since a summer falling-out with the club’s hierarchy.
He has only played five games of Serie A football this season, those matches only wielding 41 minutes of combined time on the park, and he needs time to develop his game, which doesn’t seem like something that can be afforded by Celtic at this current moment. The club are seeking out a third choice striker, and whoever joins will have a near-impossible task of dislodging Kyofo Furuhashi from Celtic’s starting lineup.
Another interesting point to note with the recent van Hooijdonk rumours is that Pierre confirmed to ACSOM at our sold-out event on 31st October that there had been no interest whatsoever from Celtic. Unless something has changed in the last three weeks, this link has no foundation.
None of the strikers currently being linked with the club seem like realistic third-choice options, which could potentially mean that the club is going to look at what is currently available within the squad.
JAMES MCKENZIE // Follow James HERE
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.