Where is the Rudnevs story coming from? Iām going to go out on a limb here and say that the bid was not for him and that it is instead for young Henriksen, when I posted about Rudnevs on Friday, I was just after reading on the FIFA website that it was practically a done deal. So unless we lodged this bid last week some time I doubt its merits. Good to see us targeting quality players like him however, over the past two or three years weāve missed out on some excellent strikers up front - Damari, Giroud, Diawara are three that come to mind - instead we ended up with Bangura and Rasmussen. How has Knowledge Musona done at Hoffenheim?
Also lads, what do you think the future augers for Stokes? I can see him leaving at the end of next season, Lennon simply doesnāt believe in him and itās had a negative impact on his performances in the latter part of the season. If thereās a new striker coming in, it will likely result in less playing time and I think he may get fed up and leave. I donāt think Lennon has handled the striker situation too well this season. There was a period there for about 5 or 6 games (around March/April) where Hooper was awful and he persisted with him while Stokes who was clearly the form player was the one who was demoted. I think he needs to pay more emphasis to current form and not embedded notions like Samaras having to play up front against Rangers or Hooper being undroppable.
Lads, I think we should propose some realistic summer signings that could we could get this coming summer. Today we will look at the centre back problem.
My recommendation is Chievoās Bostjan Cesar. A rugged tough centre back who would relish in the physical trenches of the SPL, heās off the back of two very solid seasons with Chievo, he will turn 30 this summer and will add an imposing figure in our defence as well as meeting Lennonās criteria with his vast experience. I would estimate we could get him for a fee somewhere between Ā£1.5-3m.
While researching two other potential targets I have discovered that they have already agreed summer switches - last years Danish u-21 central defensive partnership who impressed me in the Euro u-21 championship, Andreas Bjelland and Mathias Jorgenesen. Bjelland will join Twente this summer while Jorgensen is joining PSV on a bosman. I feel we missed out on a couple of bargains here.
Good idea. Staying on centre backs for the moment:
Iād like to see us enquire after Felipe Santana of Borussia Dortmund. Heās not getting a look in there because of the Subotic-Hummels partnership but Iād have no qualms about accepting a player who isnāt good enough to dislodge those two. Heās a big unit. still young for a centre back (26), his birthday is St Patrickās Day and Kevin Grosskreutz can sell him on the glory of Celtic.
Heād be at the top end of our price list Iād say (Iām guessing ā¬4m or so) but would be a good investment and would be a regular at nearly any other Bundesliga club I think.
A more raw alternative would be Assani Lukimya-Mulongoti of Fortuna Dusseldorf. He is playing in the second division in Germany after some disciplinary issues but has been consistently very good there for two years and has attracted interest from other clubs. He appeared to be signing for Koln but that was on the condition that they maintained their Bundesliga status so heās now free.
The other player Iād like to have recommended from the Bundesliga was Philipp Wollscheid who is a terrific prospect, also a good strong defender, but he signed a pre-contract with Leverkusen in January unbeknownst to me.
Sean Morrison of Reading on loan at Huddersfield. A rock of centre-half and still a young lad. Might be cheap enough and as heās a Gael heād surely jump at the chance. Heās like a much better Darren OāDea.
Linked with Craig Gordon today and Ki has said heās uncertain about his future.
Today I will address the wing position, a player that came to my attention last year was Ecuadorian winger Michael Arroyo who impressed me in the 2011 Copa America. Michael is 25 years old and plays for Mexican club Atlante.
I wouldnāt mind us taking an interest in David Templeton, he has failed to progress since last season but has been best by injury problems, I do believe he has the potential to become a decent player and if we could get him for a fee in the region of Ā£500k, I would be all for signing him.
Johann Berg Gudmundsson is another player who caught my eye at last yearās European u-21 Championship. A sprightly winger with a good left foot, Johann play for AZ in Holland and is 21 years old with 15 senior caps for Iceland to his name.
Moving on to strikers, I feel we need to add two strikers. One of our problems this season was that both Hooper and Stokes were very streaky and while both had decent seasons as a whole when they were on a bad run there wasnāt viable options for replacing them. I believe we need a striker who is a predator in the penalty box, someone who relishes attacking the ball from crosses and is good in the air. For this role I have two strong recommendations, both previous links to us. The first is Jordan Rhodes, I think heās the perfect player for this role and Iāve no doubts of how big a success he would be at Celtic, he reminds me of Chris Sutton in his movement and his goal scoring record is phenomenal, heās worth up to Ā£4m.
The next recommendation is a player who was heavily linked with us last summer although little substance appeared to exist. Torinoās Rolando Bianchi has been in and out of the team this year and could be open to a move. Again, his penalty box movement is something we are lacking at the minute and youād imagine he would score plenty at Celtic. Iād imagine he would be available for a fee of about Ā£2m.
While a penalty box predator is the number one priority for us this season Iād also like to see us sign an attacker similar to Stokes and Hooper, someone who can score goals and link up play well. Again Iād like to see us return to a target from last season, Omer Damari. I believe he has a release cause in his contract for ā¬3m. Second top scorer in Israel this season and seems to run the channels very well and possesses a nice turn of pace.
He is a tidy footballer if a bit small and lightweight any time I have seen him, can play both left full and on the wing although more suited to full back. He made is debut when he was only 16 and is only around 21 now
Real Madrid have announced that theyāre playing us in a friendly in Philadephia on August 11th.
Celtic Underground are hinting that weāre likely to be playing in that Amsterdam tournament too.
I take it weāre not playing the Dublin Super Cup this season - 1) Iām not even sure itās going to go ahead; and 2) we were apparently looking to arrange a game in Thomond Park and the FAI blocked it.
