I think Griffiths will be gone before the window, I think his history, the fans reaction to the latest indiscretion when he appeared again means it looks like Ange has given up on him.
Ajeti will probably be gone by January if he isnāt getting game time but I think he will hang around until then.
Ideally weāll get about Ā£20m for Edouard, get Henry and Lovric in for about Ā£10-12m.
Completely hypothetical here but something along the lines of:
Would be a very good window for Celtic. Most of that would be covered by the Edouard fee, it would give the squad good depth and options and if we can move on the likes of Bitton, Barkas, Griffiths and Bolingoli it would be a brilliant window.
That would be great. I donāt know how good Doig is though but weāll see.
Negative rumours this morning that Henry has 7 offers on the table so weād do well to win that battle. Also some talk that Edouard has no interest in joining the likes of Brighton and would rather wait the year, soy out his contract and join a better club.
I donāt get the lack of interest down south in Edouard. For me heās a vastly superior player to Ajer. Heās far better and has much more potential than the likes of Armstrong, Ings etc. Iām really surprised more mid table EPL clubs are not trying really hard to get him.
When we got Ā£13.5m for Ajer, I thought it would be no problem to get at least Ā£20m for Edouard. I donāt see us really strengthening the attack until Edouard goes as itās looking like that might not happen now. Is there any chance he could renew with a lowish release clause, losing him for nothing would be a disaster.
I donāt think heāll renew at all. He doesnāt look committed to staying and always intended to leave after this contract. Heās playing so poorly at the moment that he doesnāt even really justify a renewal.
I think the issue is he doesnāt want to go to Brighton or somewhere like that. They may cough up the money for him but he might have a better choice of club in six months or a year when thereās no fee and he can go somewhere that suits him.
What we donāt want to happen is we get a good offer at the end of the window and we donāt replace him.
I think if a big club would want him theyād pay the Ā£20m or so. I was very surprised Rodgers wasnāt in for him, he knows his quality. I donāt think heād start for a big team now, his form has collapsed and those sides seem unconvinced by him.
The bottom line is that if he goes down to the EPL for a Brighton and hits 15-20 goals, the big clubs will come in for him anyway and will pay crazy money for him.
I still have a hunch that Christie will leave for a lower level EPL outfit this summer. Weāll get a token fee, as his contract expires in January. There seemed to be a clique at Celtic with lads that were more refined, cultured, artsy, into film, theatre, coffee etc. It contained some of the Scandinavian lads and then the more educated jockos. The likes of Armstrong, Christie, Ajer, Sviatchenko etc. I know Christie is a Celtic fan but he grew up in the highlands outside the Glasgow goldfish bowl. Iād say he ultimately wants to follow his pals Armstrong and Ajer to the EPL. Forrest, Griffiths, Brown and those type of lads were more into Nandos and Irn Bru.
Glasgow is a city immersed in a big art culture though ironically.
I think Christie could stay as heās playing well and looks to be enjoying his football again under Ange. The financial terms offered will obviously have an impact.
The champions go straight into the CL next season, Celtic need to spend millions now to ensure that happens & to ensure they get the CL pot next season. It will also send the huns into liquidation again
The cash is there, the board have brought us to this stage by chronic last of investment and a biscuit tin mentality in the past few years so they need to get the cash out and rebuild this team.
Iām very impressed with Ange and I think he needs to be backed significantly.
I think any English club would easily pay the 20m but if he wanted a Lyon or Lille or Milan or Leverkusen or someone then the transfer fee would dilute his wages.
Iād think he might feel heād get one of those clubs on a free next season if he showed some improvement in form. It may work out for everyone that he stays another year and proves himself to earn a contract somewhere.
They wouldnāt compete but theyād have a 20m advantage over the cost today if they waited and that might persuade him to wait rather than jump ship to whatever English club bids highest.