Celtic are actively looking to strengthen the team in the January transfer window.
Currently sitting six points behind Hearts and three adrift of Rangers at the top of the Scottish Premiership table, Celtic have a bit of catching up to do.
It’s glaringly obvious which positions Celtic need to strengthen with a striker surely on top of the club’s list.
So far, Celtic have signed Julian Araujo and it appears that Ivorian winger Jocelin Ta Bi is wanted by the Bhoys.
But how the club discovered both players will not impress Celtic supporters as Michael Gannon shares how the Hoops stumbled across them.
Julian Araujo and Jocelin Ta Bi ‘offered’ to Celtic
Michael Nicholson once said he wanted Celtic to be ‘world-class in everything we do’. Well, it seems that he wasn’t talking about the scouting and recruiting of players if what Gannon says is accurate.
Gannon told Hotline Live, “The boy at Bournemouth is not a player that’s been on Celtic’s long-term scouting list. It’s a boy that’s been made available for a loan deal to Celtic.
“So whether it’s Shaun Maloney or Paul Tisdale or the secretary at Lennoxtown picking up the phone, these are deals that are offered to Celtic and they’re offered to take them.
“And likewise, the boy from Israel as well is a player who’s getting touted along around a lot of clubs in Europe, who are of a summer level, which will be Celtic.”
“I guarantee you, Rangers have been offered them as well.
“Your Antwerps, your Brugge’s, your Legia Warsaw’s, all the teams in a relatively similar bracket. These are players that are in the same pot.”
Five positions Celtic must strengthen in January
Martin O’Neill has a lot of work to do to strengthen this Celtic team in the January transfer window.
So far, only Araujo has arrived and Celtic are six days into the window. So here are five positions we believe O’Neill must add reinforcements to before the 2nd of February deadline.
- Striker: Celtic need at least two strikers to bolster the forward line.
- Defensive midfielder: A hard-tackling, ball-winning midfielder is required to add steel to the centre of the pitch.
- Attacking midfielder: Celtic need someone who can unlock SPFL defences.
- Central defender: Scales and Trusty need a first-team defender to not only provide cover, but to push them for their place.
- Right winger: For all Hyunjun Yang has been performing admirably, the South Korean is not the long-term answer for Celtic’s attacking threat moving forward.
Will O’Neill get all these players? Probably not. But this is, at least, a decent starting base of where the legend should look to strengthen the Celtic first team.