Celtic Transfers Summer 2018

Sport
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Slow start to the summer in terms of speculation. No random names linked yet. Edouard in and Armstrong out look the most likely and still lots of talk about McGinn joining.

Celtic are on the brink of smashing their club record fee to sign Odssone Edouard on a permanent deal.

Record Sport understands an agreement moved closer on Wednesday after the latest round of talks involving the 20-year-old’s representatives and his parent club Paris Saint-Germain.

And Parkhead chief executive Peter Lawwell is now more confident than ever of landing his man ahead of Saturday’s deadline, when a host of other interested clubs would be able to enter the bidding.

It’s understood the French striker has told PSG he sees his future in Glasgow, developing under Brendan Rodgers and is not holding out to consider rival offers.

That has left Celtic in the driving seat as the clock ticks down to the June 16 trigger and Lawwell hopes to have a deal concluded before close of play on Friday.

The size of the final fee is still unclear but it is expected to dwarf the £6million Martin O’Neill splashed out on two separate deals for Chris Sutton and John Hartson almost two decades ago.

The length of Edouard’s Celtic contract is also still to be thrashed out but it’s expected the club will want to tie him up on a bumper five-year deal.

The future of Stuart Armstrong, however, looks certain to be away from Celtic Park after the Scotland midfielder confirmed he hopes to clinch a summer move to England.

It’s understood a number of top flight clubs, headed by Southampton, Crystal Palace, Brighton and Fulham have made initial enquiries as they mull over moves for the 26-year-old.

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Armstrong out and McGinn in would be a huge upgrade and superb business.

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@Rocko

£9m for Edouard?

Is that legit? I honestly don’t really see Celtic sanctioning a transfer over £7m, I know the market has changed in the past few years but I thought our option was between £6-7m for him.

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Yeah I can’t see it being that high.

I think the option was around the numbers you quoted. But there are probably conditional elements to make it more lucrative to PSG based on conditions. They’re also in FFP trouble so it suits them to talk about a higher fee and it probably suits Celtic to talk about a higher investment. I’d say it’s not just linked to his performance but also to CL qualification etc. Celtic tie as much they can to that revenue stream.

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I’m happy to sign him as he did well last year. It’s been a quiet enough summer so far, think we could do with a couple of wide players with Roberts and Musonda gone. McGinn for Armstrong is a good move as he’s a far better orthodox central midfielder. A right back has to be a priority too.

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I see Liam Henderson could be close to signing for Fiorentina. :hushed:

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Rogic is probably the more established #10 now and I guess McGregor can play up there too so Armstrong is probably third in line for that position. Not sure how much substance there is to McGinn rumours though. In any event he’ll be after Brown and Ntcham and I guess would be competing with Kouassi/Bitton and maybe a deeper McGregor to be next in line if he did join.

We have Morgan joining from St Mirren to play wide and he’ll play as much as Musonda or Roberts did last season possibly.

A right back and centre back are the priorities I think - preferably a full back who can play either side actually or a centre back who is comfortable playing full back.

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Marvin Compper appears to be a complete dud signing.

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Musonda, Compper and Hendry was a terrible transfer window. I guess Bain was a decent acquisition as back up but we better do better in the summer.

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A number of top flight clubs.
Southampton, Fulham, Crystal Palace and Brighton.
That’s what a top flight club loos like now.
They probably each have more transfer money to spend than Ac Milan or Juve.
That’s the way it is gone I suppose.

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Compper was a strange one from the start, he was ineligible for Europe, 32 and didn’t really give us anything better than we already have.

Hendry has been fairly poor but it’s not something I’m overly annoyed about, it’s a position that we needed reinforcements in as we were light on cover and he has potential so no harm in bedding him in.

Musonda as well was a decent signing on the face of it, he has talent and he showed it in glimpses but a change in system from Rodgers saw him miss out and his questionable attitude meant he wasn’t going to stick around and wait for his chance. I feel we need to stay away from deals like Roberts, Denayer and Musonda. Even if they do well, they are the equivalent of putting your thumb over a leaking hole. We spent a good chunk of money bring Roberts and Musonda in last season and now they hardly featured for various reasons, now we’ve lost them and need to replace them.

On Morgan, I’d be happy to loan him out to Sunderland for this season and see how he gets on, he’s more likely to get regular football there under a manager who very much knows him and it’s a good level for him to develop.

I’d give Christie a chance this season if Armstrong is on his way, if Rodgers can have the same impact like he has had on the likes of Armstrong and McGregor then he can become a good squad option, he also has a bit of flexibility in how he can play on the wing or through the middle.

The likes of Gamboa, Allan, Bitton and Hayes could probably all be moved on. I think Kouassi could benefit from a loan move.

Very important that we get Dembele to sign an extension, I’d have no problem in giving him a % of his transfer fee if he was to commit, it motivates him to go for a big fee. I’d say it’s also likely Boyata will leave. We should listen to offers for Sinclair too.

I think we need some serious investment in the wide players, you’re only really looking at Forrest there at the minute who you’d have faith in and I actually think he’s a better wing back. I think we should be putting about £10m aside there for two players.

We also need a centre back and right back, so I’d be looking at about £8m.

I think McGinn would be a very good option, a proper alternative to Brown/Ntcham.

We should be able to be certainly able to afford a net spend of about £10m this season. Roberts and Musonda were probably big earners on the wage bill.

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I’m unsure on McGinn. I think he has potential but he hasn’t tended to be as good in games not involving Celtic and McGeouch had a better season than him. But if he raises his game to the levels he sometimes shows then he’d be well worth a punt. Problem is it’s not really a position of need.

Agreed on the loan signings - they frustrate me. I guess there is some merit in the 18 month route we’ve been going down. Roberts for example didn’t do much in his first 6 months at Celtic but was really good in the European qualifiers at the end of that season. I guess we had the same hope for Musonda but he wasn’t prepared to wait. Either way I’d say Roberts was probably a success in that 2.5 years isn’t bad to get out of him but things just didn’t work out with injuries etc. last season.

I would be letting go of Gamboa, Allan and Hayes anyway. I think Bitton’s versatility means he should be kept. He’s a good player to have on the bench and can play league cup games etc. He’d cost money to replace and we wouldn’t be guaranteed much of an upgrade unless we paid big enough money.

I wouldn’t sell Sinclair. I don’t think the system suited him as much last season and no doubt he lost confidence etc but he’s still a good player and we won’t be getting big money for him. Our biggest problem is in attracting players to come and play in Scotland and we need to hold onto some players who are happy to continue to play there and be first team regulars or squad players. It’s not just about the money - it’s about convincing other players of similar quality to come to Scotland.

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Edouard signed officially today. Whatever the actual fee paid that’s a very ambitious move by Celtic. Probably about the same amount we were trying to secure Roberts for last summer.

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Griffiths is close to signing a new deal apparently. It’s great to be keeping him as well as Edouard and Dembele for now. 3 different but very good strikers. A huge improvement over recent seasons.

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Fee agreed with Southampton for sale of Armstrong and he has been given permission to talk to them.

BBC reporting the fee as £7m which is very healthy.

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Presumably he’ll be shifted on to Liverpool for circa 80 million next year so a chunk of that also.

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Deal completed.

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Moses Odubajo has gone to Austria to talk things over with Celtic but he isn’t training apparently.

He’s a right back. Played for Hull, got a bad knee injury and hasn’t played for anyone for 2 years. Seemed to be quite highly rated before that injury.

Who do we know in Humberside who could tell us the thoughts of Hull fans?

Rodgers quotes:

"He’s not training. We had permission from Hull (to bring him to Austria). He’s a player who’s been out injured for a long period of time so at this time there’s nothing concrete.

We’ve invited him over to have a conversation and we’ll take it from there.

"I think in terms of his profile, Moses when fully fit is a really dynamic full back who gets forward and is very aggressive. I saw him as a young player at Leyton Orient and then coming through the England system and through to Hull where he had a great season in the Championship. It was unfortunate for him that in the season they get to the Premier League he suffers the injuries. It’s been difficult for him.

“Myself and his agents and the club have had a conversation and we’ll look to progress that and see what happens in the next week.”

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McGeouch has signed for Sunderland.

Decent player?

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Doubt he’d be going to Sunderland if so.