Season 16-17 | Page 4 | Vital Football

Season 16-17

James McCarthy - can't quite get this one in my head...he's a cracking player and I'd love it if we could bring him back North but I can't understand why he'd be leaving Everton, he's one of their best players! Apparently he may need surgery on his groin. His value is around £15m which is still too steep for us but we could manage a loan move. He's been linked with a move to Crystal Palace now.

Cristian Gamboa - 26 year old Cost Rican RB. All that really needs to be said about him is that he had a cracking World Cup in 2014, was signed by West Brom and has barely played since! However.....he's one of the quickest players I think I've ever seen on a football pitch! He's lightning quick and would certainly cause problems down the right wing! Put it this way, any team that wants to leave space for him to move into down that side.....good luck to them! Money wise, his value is around £1.2m and he was signed for about £2m, one year left on his contract....no big deal for us to get him if we want him.

Andre Wisdom - yes these rumours appear to be back again. With Wisdom still seemingly unlikely to play for Klopp and the transfer window getting close to closing and probably partly down to his versatility being able to play RB or CB, we've been linked with him again!
 
So we should be sealing a deal for Cristian Gamboa today. He's costing us around £1m and was told by West Brom boss Tony Pulis he was surplus and wouldn't play for the club again. It seems he was bought by the previous manager after an impressive World Cup but when Pulis took charge, he opted to get rid of any players who were too small for his style and brought in lots of taller players, that's the simple reason why this poor guy hasn't played! Graham Dorrans (Scotland international and former Livingston player) said that he was in the same position before moving to Norwich from West Brom and he reckons we're getting a good player. Someone who is hungry to do well and prove himself and you can see from his play, he gives up on NOTHING! He'll be determined to put the ball out for a throw rather than let it run out for a corner if he can! A little bit of an unknown considering his lack of football over the past 2 seasons but here's hoping he can hit the ground running. Having played in Norway and Denmark previously, he shouldn't have much difficulty adjusting to Scottish football.
Here's a look at what £1m is getting us;

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Jozo Simunovic is apparently still a target for Torino who are to offer £3.75m for him. He could sign at the same time as Joe Hart! Simunovic previously stated that he wasn't looking to move and was concentrating on getting fit and then showing the manager what he can do. I'm not sure that £3.75m is enough considering what we paid for him. Plus I was half expecting him to come back and do well and we'd have him and Sviatchenko as a defensive partnership, bringing Toure in when we want to go with a back 3.
 
Oh and GMS turned down a loan offer from Dundee United and has said that he wants to stay and fight for his place. We could see a resurgence from GMS under Rodgers, just like we have with Forrest. The system and style could well favour GMS more than it did for Deila.
 
The Gamboa deal is done, signed on a 3 year deal for £1m.

Simunovic is in Torino for a medical....looks like that one is a goer after all! Seems a little surprising but Rodgers has perhaps looked at the footage of him from last season and decided he's not right for what he wants? Or is it just too good a deal to turn down for a player who may struggle to get back into the team?

We've been linked with a loan move for Juventus midfielder Hernanes. The 31 year old Brazilian could struggle to get into the team and has been linked with a loan move away this season, with Celtic and Genoa the clubs said to be interested....however with us having CL football, that could sway him our way.
Described as an attacking midfielder, he appears to prefer sitting deep to control the game. Has excellent skill on the ball and fantastic dribbling ability but also seems happy enough to get stuck into tackles and break up play.

We're also been linked with a move for Jack Wilshere after Arsenal stated he was free to go out on loan in search of first team football. New England boss Sam Allardyce has warned Wilshere that he will not get into the England team unless he's playing regularly. This has alerted a number of teams who would be keen to sign Wilshere but he hasn't limited his options to England and while the domestic football up here might not be enough to get him a place in the England squad, good performances in the CL could......however, do we really want to sign someone who is more injury prone than James Forrest....although it should be said he's less of a sicknote than Boerrigter!
 
Efe Ambrose could be set for a move to Rotherham with Alan Stubbs apparently keen to take him South and join up with Darnell Fisher and Scott Allan.
 
Stuart Armstrong could be of interest to Ipswich on loan. That could be a good move for Armstrong and us!

Simunovic MAY have failed his medical at Torino. Unconfirmed reports from Croatia say the deal is off.

Ambrose could be allowed to leave for nothing. We had initially been wanting around £1m for him but it seems that with the CL money, we may just let him go for nothing! Cut our losses! Schalke are reportedly interested.....Still potential for a move to Rotherham as well. Apparently he told his agent to find him a club that would pay him around £10k a week.
 
Looks like it's going to be difficult to land Hernanes. Juventus may seemingly be open to selling him and with Sporting Lisbon set to lose 2 players to Leicester, they could move for the Brazilian, who would obviously fit in well in Portugal. Benfica are also said to be interested but Genoa seem unlikely to sign him after talks between the player and club broke down.
 
Reports suggest Simunovic had an issue with his medical so Torino are trying to renegotiate the deal with Celtic......Celtic are having none of it!
 
If we're bringing someone in......we're leaving it late! Also leaving it late to send people out as well.....if they've got to go for a medical and get everything all sorted......things should start moving about now!
 
In fact I've just read that according to Sky Sources, our chances of landing a midfielder are getting slimmer all the time. Hernanes and James McCarthy are looking unlikely!
 
Sky Sports bumped into Simunovic at a cafe in Torino. According to him, the medical has been passed, Torino agreed to his contract demands....all that's left is an agreement between the clubs. Reports suggest Torino want to make a loan (possibly with a fee at the end of the loan to buy) while Celtic are saying buy him or we keep him!
 
Well......as Deadline Days go for us....that was pretty uneventful. There was barely even a sniff about any players possibly coming in.
The bigger news was about players leaving. At one point there was a story about Stuart Armstrong going but that turned into nothing as Ipswich (the interested team) got someone else. Efe Ambrose had an offer to go to Belgium but he turned it down as he wanted to stay in the UK! DOH!
Simunovic's deal was off and on and then off again and then on again and then finally....it was off! Still different reports about the problem, some in Italy and Croatia are reporting that he DID fail his medical and there was a problem with his knee and it may require more surgery and that was leading to Torino wanting to renegotiate the deal. Other reports suggested no issues with the medical and Torino simply tried to renegotiate the deal. It would make sense if there was some sort of issue with the medical that they would perhaps still want to take a chance on him but limit their outlay by first taking him on loan. Anyway, the fact is he's staying here and fighting back to fitness! It doesn't appear he pushed for a move and it doesn't appear we pushed him out so he and the club seem happy enough, it just came up as a good opportunity from a financial point of view for the club and for a playing regular football point of view for Jozo. I think Rodgers will have told him he'd be happy to keep him but there's an opportunity for you leave and get first team football, we're happy to let it happen and it's gone from there.

The other big news story that broke late on was that Saidy Janko has gone out on loan to Barnsley! A little bit of a shock to some. A lot of fans were quick to jump on Janko and say he's useless and not good enough. Let's be honest, he had 1 bad game! In pre-season he was looking really rather good! But after his injury problems last season, a spell at Barnsley will do him good to get his career back on track, he needs to play regularly and that wasn't going to happen with us this season.
 
Rodgers had a few targets, all attacking midfielders, that he wanted in but couldn't get it done. I think he only wants to bring in serious quality and we have a large squad still. That may hold us up more than anything. It's a big team and we need to cut players. Though it must be said, we'll be on Europe at least to December. Depth is a good thing. We really only have three forwards and two, Griffiths and Dembele, are reliable.

Simunovic is a player. If he can stay fit, he could be quite good. I also think O'Connell is the real article. It might take time but we could have a good back four. As for attacking midfield, Rogic looks better than ever but Rodgers seems to want someone who is CL quality. Rogic is improving all the time, though!
 
We've been linked with former AC Milan and Sporting Lisbon LB Leandro Grimi. Grimi is now playing in Argentina and at 31 is certainly experienced. He'll be 32 in February and with us still having Izaguirre on the books, I can't work out why we'd be interested in this guy. Once Izaguirre goes then I would agree, an experienced mentoring LB to help Tierney would be a good move......that may explain why we've been watching Benfica recently as we could be interested in their ageing LB Eliseu......

The report suggests Grimi would cost us around £600k.....I'd ask why we'd want to go for a player who only played 16 times for AC Milan in the league, 4 CL games, 8 Europa League games and 6 UEFA Cup games and a total of only 213 appearances to date.
As a comparison to a player you may have actually heard of, lets look at Eliseu who is out of contract next summer and would therefore be available for free or if we really want him in January, he's going to cost around the same money to buy from Benfica, considering he hasn't played for them yet this season. He has over 365 appearances in his career to date, 173 of which were in La Liga, 86 have been in the Portuguese league, 20 champions league apps, 5 Europa League apps, 3 CL Qualifiers and 2 Europa League qualifiers.....

Which player would you rather have? Eliseu is a year older granted, he's soon to be 33.....but I'd rather go for the older guy, with more experience and who's going to cost less or around the same.
 
January is not far away! We've had mixed results in January transfer markets in the past. The general consensus on this site has usually been that we're not active enough in January and should use it to prepare for the following season. Rodgers has already talked about using January as a time to bed players in before the early CL qualifiers next year. It's looking unlikely we'll have any European football after Christmas but the money made just from getting to the group stages stands us in a good position financially.
Rodgers has talked about adding more quality to the team. He'll need to have an eye on a new CB as we don't know how long Toure will stay and Simunovic is being eyed up by clubs down South with lots of TV money to splash around. Sviatchenko could be in the same boat, he has shown he is a terrific athlete, very fit and has a calmness to his game similar to VVD. He's not quite of the same quality as VVD and he's not as strong but he's a good player! Add to that the inevitable interest in Tierney and our backline could be very different come the end of the summer.

My gut feeling is that Simunovic, Sviatchenko and Tierney would all want to stay and build on what BR has started. It would have to be BIG transfer fees to part with any of them!

The other area that it feels as though we need to add quality is in CM. We have quality on the wings but centrally we only really have Brown and he can have his off-nights. Bitton has had some great games but consistency is not something we get from, particularly in Europe. I just sometimes question whether his style and BR's style, particularly in Europe really work. It can work in domestic games but Europe is another level and I'm just not sure it works so well.

Moussa Dembele is being watched by a lot of clubs after his impressive start to the season. He's a clever lad though and he won't rush out in January to the first big club to come calling! He also won't go next summer unless he feels the move is right for him. He turned down Spurs because he knew it wasn't right for him as he wasn't going to get enough game time!
However, it does feel like, at times we could do with another option up front! We're still looking for the big target man! We've been looking for one for so long now, we just can't seem to find someone who is the right fit!

Earlier in the season, a lot of fans would have said we may be looking for a new keeper as well. However Gordon has come onto form and has been making some cracking saves again! De Vries is a capable back-up, as is Bailly and even Fasan too!

So what will be on the shopping list? Well everything essentially! The only position we really don't need to worry about is probably RB. If a quality winger became available, I think we'd try and get him in but it's not a necessity!
The main one is definitely a CM. A big, tall target man striker is always on the list. It really just depends if the right one is available. The other main one to look for is a CB but that depends a lot on Toure and when he's going to hang up his boots.
 
Who's leaving in January? Well hopefully a few!

Ambrose is out of contract next summer so will be free to talk to clubs and sign a pre-contract, but I'm sure the club would rather let him go and try and get a little bit of money for him in January.
Boyata doesn't look like he's going to get near the first team under BR, I'd imagine we'll look to loan him out in January and unless things improve for him, he'll be punted or continually loaned out until his contract expires.
Izzy is out of contract next summer but my gut feeling is he won't be going anywhere until then.

Ciftci, Commons and GMS - hard to say but GMS and Ciftci could be going out on loan.
Commons won't want to and will feel like he should be back in the team but BR has commented on the fact that he wants his players at a certain weight to even TRAIN with the first team never mind play. I would imagine that means Commons is overweight right now after his injury. Is he actually likely to play in this team now? I don't think so! Age is against him, injury ruled him out of contention and BR has basically shaped his team and I don't know where Commons fits. He would be fighting it out with Rogic for the no.10 role but you also have Armstrong, Christie, Henderson and McGregor capable of playing there not to mention using both Griffiths and Dembele in that system.

Kristoffer Ajer looks likely to go out on loan in January. I think BR has high hopes for the big lad but he needs more competitive game time than playing for the development squad. Still trying to find his best position as well perhaps. Picking the right club for a loan will be key but expect him back next year to make more of an impact!
 
So it's getting closer and closer to January and now comes the time where all the rumours about who's moving where start coming about.

Recently we've once again been linked with Steven Gerrard after he confirmed he was leaving LA Galaxy but doesn't want to hang up his boots.....however BR has confirmed that they stay in touch but has no idea where the stories suggesting he wants to join Celtic are coming from. The other story now though is that he's been approached about the vacant manager position at MK Dons....possible player-manager role for him??
Anyway, chances are he's not coming here and BR knows it wouldn't be the right move for the club going forward.

That said, he will be wanting another CM this window.....or at least that's what everyone seems to be feeling. I've got a list of potential targets that I think could be just what we're looking for!

There is talk of Izaguirre being given a new contract, I'd imagine that would be for another 1 year, he's happy to stay and I think he understands that he's obviously getting to the end of his career and so is a bit happier about being second place to Tierney.

We've also been linked with a CB, Ezri Konsa of Charlton Athletic. BR took in the match between Charlton and Swindon last weekend but Konsa didn't actually play. However considering he's been linked with a number of big English teams after some impressive performances in his first season, the media have decided that must be who BR was wanting to look at. Charlton have a good academy structure and Konsa has been with Charlton since he joined their U11 side. The 19 year old is proving to be a versatile player capable of getting the ball down and playing football in midfield but also able to mix it up and be strong at the back in defence!
Joe Gomez recently joined Liverpool from Charlton for £3.5m and Charlton believe Konsa of a similar ability and so will likely be hoping for a similar fee.....that's a lot of money for us to dish out on an unknown quality of player. Easy for the big money rich English Elite but we have to be more sensible than that.

I believe we'll also be hoping to add a striker this January, or at least someone who can play in the forward positions as it doesn't particularly look like Ciftci is going to get much of a look-in, although tonight's game against Kilmarnock could tell us more on that.
I've been looking for strikers but it's a really difficult one at the moment. The best young strikers are already being linked with massive transfer fee moves to the European Elite while the older ones who would be available to the likes of us are either a bit too old or they're not playing enough and not scoring so you don't know if they're any good.
 
A little bit more news at the start of the week regarding transfers. We've been linked with a move for 24 year old English midfielder Jordon Mutch. Currently at Crystal Palace but barely used under Alan Pardew this season due to the form of Ledley, McArthur and Cabaye. He was signed almost 2 years ago from QPR for around £4.25m, QPR had only bought him in the summer but had quickly realised they were overspending and had to reel in the money and offload top earners. QPR had paid around £6.5m for him that summer from Cardiff! Cardiff is where he really made a name for himself after signing for the club when in the Championship and helping them win the League and into the EPL. His season in the EPL was a good one, scoring some cracking goals!
Mutch is left footed which might bring a bit of balance to the midfield which BR likes, although Mutch often seems to play off the right hand side of the pitch. He is also versatile and able to play in wider midfield areas or a more advanced role. He's a fairly big, strong player too, not one to be easily shoved off the ball. He's creative as well, able to chip in with goals and assists but he can also put in a good hard tackle.
Price wise they are saying in the region of £2.5m but that seems a bit on the low side for a player who is currently rated at £3.4m and has a contract until 2019. Other reports have suggested Palace want around £4.5m which seems a more accurate figure. However his wages could be an issue, currently on around £35k a week.
The other bad news for us is that his availability has alerted a number of other English clubs including Premier League and Championship teams, all of whom could offer the same or better wages than he currently is on. The only other thing I'd point out is that BR likes to deal in private and that alone could mean that this deal is untrue and we're once again being used to muster interest in a player.

In other news......the rumours are once again doing the rounds on VVD leaving Southampton. Liverpool are the supposed interested party and they want VVD and a young midfielder from Southampton and are willing to pay £40m! You would have to imagine it will be split higher for VVD, so could be talking around £25m......(he has just recently signed a big new contract) which should see us rake in around £2.5m from the sale! That's enough for £48k a week in wages......if you think about rather than investing it as money to buy a player, that's enough to pay a high earner each week for a year....plus another player most likely!
 
If we're looking to bring in a striker this window, perhaps someone like Dembele who could grow into a top player and wouldn't necessarily be pushing for a first team spot straight away......Jordan Larsson should be considered as an option!
He's one of the best young strikers out there at an affordable price! There are another couple of very good young strikers in Sweden, Alexander Isak is one that all the top clubs are watching....but they're talking about a £14m price tag for a player who is still only 17 and only made his professional debut at the start of the year. Don't get me wrong the boy is a talent, no doubt, but we simply can't compete at that sort of price!

Larsson has unfortunately been relegated with Helsignborg's this season. His father and Celtic legend Henrik has been the manager this season and couldn't steer them out of the relegation zone where they had to play in a play-off match which they lost 2-1. After the end of the 2nd of the two play-off matches, Jordan was attacked by masked "supporters" who ripped his shirt off. I can only think they are particularly unhappy at their home town hero Henrik and took it out on Jordan. The men made their way onto the pitch, confronted Jordan and gestured to him to take his shirt off, after refusing they then proceeded to take it off him by force before others came to his rescue, including his father Henrik who ordered the "fans" back into the stand.
Jordan made his debut at the age of 16 in the 2014 season, making 11 appearances in the league, with 1 assist and scoring 3 goals in 5 games in the Swedish Cup. In 2015 he made 25 appearances scoring 3 goals and contributing 5 assists. This season, 2016, he has managed 12 goals and 5 assists in 34 apps.

Like I say, anyone at that age range with a similar number of goals is being talked about as a huge star and going for a LOT of money. Alexander Isak as a comparison, was in the best team in the league this season and even though it was his first professional season and he's only 17, he scored 11 goals with 1 assist in 25 apps. You can see why there's so much interest in him, unfortunately it will rule us out of signing him!
With Helsingborg being relegated and the unfortunate incident, Jordan may decide it's time for a move and while he probably needs a good dose of first team football to keep his development going, Celtic Park could still be a very good next step for the young man. The problem is obviously that there would be such high expectations from the fans because of what Henrik did and it would depend on whether he feels he could handle that. The Swedish season has only just finished so he would need a break and then he could be brought in to train with the squad and we probably then wouldn't see him until later in the season, if at all this season. BR knows he needs players in now for next season though and if he's looking for another Dembele then Jordan seems like the best fit so far!
 
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