Celtic Summer Transfers 2015

Saidy Janko is linked today. A right back / right midfielder from Manchester United’s youth set up. Not sure if a loan or permanent deal is being lined up.

Never heard of him. Not sure why we’d be interested in a right back on loan anyway. If we’re buying him as a project/prospect then fair enough.

On loan at Bolton last term.

Watched a youtube video on Janko.

Looks reasonable anyway - I like his willingness to take on his man, think Matthews could be better at that with his pace but he suffers a bit from Forrest syndrome and slows down to stop in front of opponents too often.

You’d assume he was recommended by Lennon.

Not sure there’s much of a relationship there now with Lennon actively pursuing the likes of Commons and rumoured to be interested in Forrest. But who knows?

I think United signed him as a full back, but was positionally suspect. Was used on the wing, or wing back for the most part. A physical specimen with a 6 litre engine, he’s a bit like Valencia. Unlike Valencia, he can shoot straight.

Won our Reserve POTY last year.

An article from Celtic Quick News which claims we have no interest in Vossen. Seems credible, even if the article is half written to reject the various uninteresting Danny Wilson stories which I have no interest in.

##Vossen not on list, lessons for Sky, BBC and others

Here’s how it works. Celtic tell agents the profile of players they are looking for, who subsequently send their client’s CVs and DVDs back. If one fits the profile (for example: a central defender, with pace, wage budget £X, transfer budget £Y), then he is retained for consideration.

Some retained for consideration make it onto ‘the list’. Celtic actively pursue these players, usually more than one per requirement, as they know how deals can fall through. If players start to drop off the list, either because they have not performed to standard when scouted, or Celtic’s approach is declined, names are added to the list from those retained for consideration.

That ‘retained for consideration’ folder generates more advertising revenue than anything else in football. Lots of people are incentivised to link a name to Celtic (or many other clubs). The agent can legitimately tell a journalist he’s spoken to Celtic about a player, the journalist can then trail the transfer saga for weeks, its rise, climax and last minute hitch, will generate millions of hits. This is called Click Bait, you are the target.

Consider the near certainty of the reporting that Jelle Vossen was about to sign for Celtic. The Genk striker matches Celtic’s criteria in several areas: he’s a striker, they will be able to afford his wages and transfer fee, they have received information on him. Hundreds of articles have been written on this basis alone, generating thousands of pounds of advertising revenue.

The problem is, Jelle Vossen isn’t on ‘the list’. His CV is stuck in a folder somewhere at Lennoxtown, not currently under consideration. Celtic are not actively pursuing his services.

Danny Wilson? Never made it onto the list. His agent got a courteous response “months ago” when first asked if there was interest. Danny’s CV is in the same folder Jelle’s is in. When I spoke to a senior source at the club yesterday, the player is so far off radar, the source couldn’t even remember Wilson’s name when I asked about Celtic being rejected in favour of a newco.

The PR behind the message sent out with Wilson’s signing was inspired. Some of the reporting was shameful. The days of being able to twist a story against Celtic without consequence are gone. The BBC recanted one story (at the insistence of reporter Alasdair Lamont). Sky Sports News gave Neil McCann a stage for utter guff on Wilson rejecting Celtic, while much of the print and online media quickly moved on, not caring one way or the other.

The episode reminded me of the almost universal line the media took the day Neil Lennon resigned – unhappy at Celtic’s transfer budget, apparently. This message was never attributed but it was reported so widely, you could trace the manipulation. We even had the Usual Brigade of ex-Celts ready to express their disappointment at the club’s financial decisions. Economic illiterates, to a man. The story was nonsense and almost certainly came from the same source as Wilson’s rejection.

There are strikers on Celtic’s list, but if the agent’s talking to the media, chances are, he’s not talking to Celtic anymore.

Here’s a Bob Dylan singing Like a Rolling Stone, especially for Neil McCann. How does it feel………?

http://m.stv.tv/sport/football/clubs/celtic/1323584-manchester-uniteds-saidy-janko-visits-celtic-training-base-for-talks/

Janko at Lennoxtown.

Is it a permanent move we’re discussing @Bandage? Is that Benelux left back we nearly signed before still at United by the way?

That’s a strange one as we’re well stocked on the right flank.

@Rocko

It’s doing it again.

Let others join the conversation

This topic is clearly important to you – you’ve posted more than 26% of the replies here.

Are you sure you’re providing adequate time for other people to share their points of view, too?

Rumours linking Matthews to QPR yesterday so that might explain the link a bit.

I’ve sorted that other issue.

Buttner? I don’t think so.

Matthews has a year left on his contract. I’d be okay with selling him as he hasn’t progressed as much as I thought he would. Fisher doesn’t seem to be up touch so we’d have Lustig and Janko plus whatever else is coming through from the development squad.

Speaking of which, Deila has clearly said that our squad is too big and he wants it down to 20, to be complemented by a few from the development squad. He wants the youngsters to have a pathway to the first team squad.

Yeah those quotes from Deila fairly strongly suggest we’ll be looking to offload as much as buy this summer. We let a good few youths go as usual, including a couple of the more promising names like Herron, having already released a few in January I think.

If Janjo signs it does strongly suggest Matthews is leaving. And maybe Fisher.

900k bid rejected for Ciftci. I think he’s a good player but would be hoping for a more established striker.

Any more news on Janko? I had a look at a video of him on YouTube, he makes Barry Robson look like Lubo, every single touch he takes is with his right foot. I’m a bit meh on this one, he seems to play most of his football on the right wing and is a one trick pony.

I’m not keen on Ciftci at all. He’s reasonably talented but he already has a bit of an attitude problem. He’d be more physical than Scepovic but I don’t see him being much/any better. I’d hope for a better, more reliable striker.

Yeah I’m not overly keen either. He might turn out to be a reasonable signing, but it’s all gone very quiet and he’s probably not any better than Matthews and some distance below the level Lustig is operating at when he’s fit.

Seems like Janko might be signing tonight. He’s back to do a medical apparently. Talk is that Matthews has indicated he wants to move on.

I quite like Ciftci as a player. I’d like to think we can get a better striker but I wouldn’t be averse to him signing with Guidetti leaving.

Not particularly pushed if Matthews is away and it makes sense to sign another right back in that case given Lustig’s tendency to be injured a lot.

Some Liverpool based football writer was tweeting last night about McGeady rejoining Celtic this summer.

I’m ok with Ciftci ability wise. He has usually caused us problems when playing against us. He does seem to get rattled easily though, which is a bit of an issue, and he doesn’t actually have a prolific scoring record, albeit not at a top side.

I think he’d be a decent enough option but we already have Griffiths, Scepovic, Stokes who are decent enough options. He’s not an improvement on Guidetti I don’t think. I would prefer a more natural goalscorer but we seem to be thinking that’s what Griffiths is for and now we need a more target man striker.

Celtic have announced the signing of Saidy Janko on a 4-year deal subject to receipt of satisfactory medical results tomorrow morning.