I haven’t seen much of him but he was very poor against Liverpool when I saw him before Christmas as well.
Pat Vieira and Zlatan are about the only 6”4 or bigger players I can recall this century who were “world class” at their peak
Celtic sold Eboue Kouassi to Genk or Gent the other day. He’s been on loan at whichever club bought him.
Also released Calvin Miller. He was listed in some computer game or football journal as one of the best young players in the world 4 or 5 years ago. Seemed dubious at the time, unsurprisingly. Had a few appearances and then loan spells, but did his cruciate last year.
That was a bizarre one. He never really seemed to be that highly rated at Celtic even.
We were linked with a young West Ham striker in the Athletic the other day. West Ham fans seem to be annoyed by his departure which is hopefully a good sign.
West Ham striker Parkes interested in Celtic move after Frimpong’s success
Veron Parkes is interested in a move to Celtic after turning down a professional deal at West Ham, The Athletic understands, with the striker impressed by how the Scottish Premiership champions have developed young players.
Parkes, 18, was offered an initial two-year professional contract but he believes he has a better chance of playing first-team football elsewhere. His scholarship deal concludes at the end of June and West Ham have been unable to secure a deal, according to sources close to the player.
The striker believes there is a realistic pathway into the first team at Celtic, citing Jeremie Frimpong’s breakthrough season at Celtic Park after he arrived from Manchester City on a four-year deal on last summer’s transfer deadline day. The Athletic understands that the precedent set by Frimpong, who was offered an opportunity in the starting XI against Partick Thistle in the Scottish League Cup only weeks after signing at the age of 18, is a major incentive for Parkes.
Equally important was how Frimpong was rewarded when he took his opportunities, having been named man of the match against Partick and for his league debut, a 6-0 home win over Ross County in October. He has since become a trusted mainstay in the first team, and now has a League Cup winners’ medal as well as a Premiership winners’ medal. Before the season was curtailed by the coronavirus pandemic, he racked up three assists and two goals in 19 appearances for Celtic from right-back.
Frimpong’s signing was the highlight of a new recruitment strategy spearheaded by Celtic’s new head of football operations Nick Hammond, formerly of West Brom and Reading. Along with Jonathan Afolabi who arrived from Southampton and Lee O’Connor who arrived from Manchester United, Frimpong fits a pattern of highly rated teenagers from English academies who outgrew youth football and felt frustrated by the lack of first-team pathways outlined to them by their clubs.
They were players available for a nominal fee or even free, representing an opportunity for Celtic to not only develop them into first-team players but eventually make a profit on.
Parkes matches this profile and clearly Celtic has a growing reputation as an environment conducive to developing and trusting players looking to kickstart their senior careers.
Although other clubs in England are interested in signing Parkes, his camp would prefer a move abroad. Heerenveen, Fortuna Sittard, New York Red Bulls and an unnamed Spanish club have all been credited with an interest.
Those close to Parkes appreciate what West Ham have done for him but feel a move to another English club is unlikely to improve his chances of breaking into top-tier first-team football.
Before the curtailment of fixtures in the under-18 and under-23 competitions, Parkes played 19 games, provided six assists and scored 13 goals. The two under-23 games in which he featured were against Manchester United and Sunderland. The striker occasionally trained with the first team at Rush Green and he finished the season as the top scorer for Kevin Keen’s under-18s and the fifth-highest scorer in the Under-18 Premier League with 11 goals.
Parkes joined West Ham from Crystal Palace in December 2017 at the age of 16 and in his two and a half year spell he has amassed 25 goals in 48 youth-team appearances. Parkes is versatile and can operate anywhere across the forward line. His standout moments this season were a hat-trick against Swansea and a penalty against Charlton Athletic in the FA Youth Cup.
Last term, Parkes scored five goals in his opening four under-18 league appearances. He was then promoted to the under-23s and continued his goalscoring form, having scored against Everton and Swansea City. Parkes’ main strengths are his pace and ability to provide assists.
Thanks to his mixed background, he is also eligible to play for England, Scotland, Japan, Spain and Jamaica. Scouts from Scotland were present at some of his games this season.
Frimpong, Afolabi and O’Connor mentioned in that piece. Frimpong the standout success obviously, but Afolabi was apparently getting on well on loan at Dunfermline before the season was curtailed. Didn’t hear much about O’Connor but Thistle were a bit of a mess last season and not sure if the loan aided his development.
Haaland looks a funny one . It will be interesting to see how he develops as a footballer when he fills out .
Bhoys, this Ajer stuff is mad.
Being linked with Real Madrid, Milan, Leicester amongst others for £20mn plus.
Leicester reportedly offering Benkovic plus cash.
Ajer’s had an average season but has undoubted potential. Just didn’t see him commanding anything like that kind of fee or supposedly interesting that level of club.
I saw @Fulvio_From_Aughnacloy quoting that figure in the opening posts and thought he was delusional. VvD went to Southampton for €14 only a few years ago 
He’s absolutely massive, not sure how much filling out he has left to do
Prices had moved on again from Van Dijk days (pre Covid at least) but didn’t expect to see Ajer command a Tierney level fee.
Bite their hands off.
Benkovic looks far better though injury prone.
Yeah that’s his problem. I’m not sure I want him given his injuries but depends on what his prognosis is I guess. Definitely looked better last year. I think I rate Ajer higher than you chaps but those are big amounts for him.
If we reinvest that money, it’s a no brainer, the likelihood is that we will invest a fraction of it and the remainder will go into topping up Lawwell’s bonus.
It’s a bloody shame Celtic don’t include sell on clauses where they get 25 percent of the profits or something. I’m not sure if it’s because their contracts are worth much or what but they sell good players far too cheaply.
They got £7.5m from the Van Dijk Liverpool move and are said to have a 10% sell on clause with Dembele too.
They got a few mill out of Wanyama going to Spurs too I think
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He will widen for sure . Interesting what the will mean .
As some lads have said, Celtic have negotiated selling on clauses for the last good where possible. But it’s a pyramid really. Celtic themselves are faced with clubs insisting on these clauses when buying players now.
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Best of luck to him.
The bhoy had fantastic heart and gave it all he had.
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