Summer '17 | Vital Football

Summer '17

wee_od_88

wee_od_88

Vital Football Hero
Brendan's second summer transfer window, his first one was a success.....how will this one turn out? BR has made some cracking signings so far and you can guarantee that he's got plenty of targets at different ages and abilities and styles that he can choose from. He also knows we have limits and finding the right players within those limits will be key.

In terms of outgoings, KT keeps being mentioned as one all the big EPL clubs are after, we all know they love to pay over the top money for a LB and while I think KT is brilliant, it would have to be an insanely big offer because we know just how good he is! However KT isn't having any of it, he's happy to stay here with the team he loves and supports!
Dembele is obviously still being mentioned as one who could go but again, he and his agent have already said that he will more than likely stay for at least another year if not more because he's in no hurry to leave right now as he knows he's working under a great manager, at a fantastic club and he's in one of the best places to learn more. He's still young!
Stuart Armstrong has been linked with a couple of clubs down South but I don't see too much to worry about there, I don't think he's in a hurry to leave.
Simunovic may become the subject of more transfer speculation as it's already been mentioned that clubs were watching him. Sviatchenko could yet attract some interest as well.
Logan Bailly is likely to leave this summer.

Patrick Roberts will return to Man City but there is talk of us trying to sign him if Pep doesn't want him or alternatively taking him on loan again.

Scott Allan is almost certain to be on his way out of the club. We'll let him go for next to nothing I'd imagine. He hasn't even been in the squad for relegated Rotherham since 4th February!
Saidy Janko - with Anthony Ralston impressing and having Gamboa as back-up to Lustig, I don't see a place for Janko and he's clearly not impressed even the Barnsley manager enough because he's barely played all season. Saying that, I don't know what changed but since 1st April he has played the full 90 mins in 7 out of the 8 games that Barnsley have played. 1 win, 3 draws and 3 losses. He's made half of his appearances for the season since 1st April.......
Leo Fasan could be on his way now as well. He got some good first team football at Port Vale but couldn't help save them from relegation by the looks of things. He's down the pecking order and we have good young keepers ready to take that No3 spot.
Eoghan O'Connell - 18 times he was in the squad, he started 17 of those games and only didn't play the full 90 on 2 occasions. One appears to have possibly been an injury before half time and the other was a sending off after 2 yellows. 7 wins from 17 games, 5 losses and 5 draws means Walsall finished comfortably mid-table. His contract appears to be up this summer so it just depends what BR thinks of him, he's highly rated but will he be able to play here? Maybe not quite good enough for Champions League! He won't be short of clubs offering him a deal though!
Jamie Lindsay - not sure when the 21 year olds contract is up with us but he's been an important player for Morton this season, having played 39 games so far, with one more promotion play-off game at least to be played. 3 goals and 1 assist helped Morton finish 4th! He's a good young player and as nice as it would be for us to see more of them get a chance and get through, he's probably not going to cut it here any more but there won't be a shortage of Championship or even Premiership teams in Scotland that won't be considering signing him!
Ryan Christie - still contracted to us until 2019. Could he go out on loan again? Possibly! I'm not sure where he's going to get into our team or even where his best position is.....
Nadir Ciftci - he's got to go! Been on loan in Poland and he hasn't scored in 10 appearances for them. The problem he's going to have is finding a club that will want him!
Paul McMullan - another 21 year old who's contract is up this summer. He's helped Dunfermline to 5th after only being promoted last season and has scored 7 goals and 4 assists. Dunfermline are likely to want to keep him but don't be surprised if a few other clubs are sniffing around for him as well!
Efe Ambrose - contract is up and he's said to be interesting a few clubs down South again but Hibs will also be keen to keep him after he's actually done really well for them!
Kris Commons will be gone this summer as well. Hopefully he at least gets a little cameo against Hearts or something so the fans can say goodbye and thank him.
Youngsters Fiacre Kelleher and Luke Donnelly could also be leaving this summer. GMS and Nir Bitton are 2 other players who may head away this summer with first team chances being slim.
 
In terms of players coming in.....thin on the ground so far but BR wouldn't want it any other way. Patrick Roberts could potentially come back.
We've been linked with Dominic Solanke, England youth international and Chelsea academy star. He's a big physical striker but he has good movement and agility as well. Closest comparisons are probably Drogba.....although certainly not at that level yet. There's a little bit of Ibrahimovich about him as well. He's happy to drift out wide, more so than Dembele. He's definitely leaving Chelsea this summer and we're in the mix to sign him, that much we do know!

Srdan Plavsic - 21 year old Red Star Belgrade winger. I'd say he's similar to Coutinho in style....or like a young Shaun Maloney.
 
Excellent summations wee_od :emoticon:01

Unrecognisable difference from this time last year when we'd have happily punted most of the squad! hahaha. The 'outs' this time around (excluding yoofs) haven't kicked a ball under BR and really are just surplus to requirements. The only one you haven't mentioned that I really want to see the back of is Bitton. Few players have got on my tits as much, and as regularly, as that fella. It's not a lack of talent with him but he has the heart of an anaemic mouse and the energy of a tortoise!

Solanke and Plasvic both look very good. I'm sure we'll have a few others that haven't been mentioned as that's the way we do our business under BR - it's also the reason I'm taking the players previously mentioned with a pinch of salt.

McGinn of Hibs is another one that's been linked. Not sure what to make of that tbh...
 
Cheers Tic!

I know what you mean about Bitton, when he's in the mood he's a cracking player.....we just don't see it enough! I think given his lack of chances in CM with the emergence of both Armstrong and now McGregor (who many would have seen the back of last year) and with Kouassi probably going to be given more time next season once he's more settled, Bitton could go this summer! BR still wants another midfielder, someone who can play a killer pass, someone with a bit of creativity so that will reduce Bitton's chances further.

McGinn.....I'm not sold on him yet. I think we'd be better seeing how he does for Hibs in the first half of the season and possibly make a move in January. I know Rodgers likes him though.

We're being linked with a move for Lucas Leiva who BR obviously worked with at Liverpool. Now 30 year old but by no means past it! He'd be another bit of a Kolo Toure signing, someone to help the dressing room, help the younger players and so on. However Brighton are going to be in the Premier League next season and they are said to be interested in signing him as a free agent as well.
And yes that does mean that Richie Towell (former Celtic youth player and made a couple of first team appearances as well as a loan spell at Hibs) is going to be playing Premier League football next season alongside former Celt Beram Kayal and former Motherwell player Jamie Murphy. That's crazy to think!

Newly promoted Newcastle United are said to be interested in Jozo Simunovic and will pay around £9m for him. They might also be interested in Efe Ambrose.........but then so might Brighton!

West Brom have had a scout watching Stuart Armstrong and Tony Pulis has been given rave reviews by Scotland team-mates Darren Fletcher and James Morrison so they are willing to pay £8m for our midfield ace!

Brentford have signed one of our youth players, Theo Archibald. He looked a pretty decent player and scored a cracking goal in the UEFA Youth League game I watched against Man City that BR was watching and I thought that might help propel him towards the first team as he looked really good but it seems there are perhaps other areas of his game where BR and the coaching team just don't feel he's quite strong enough in. His contract was up and he has chosen to go and work with a former Celtic youth coach at Brentford. All the best to Theo!
 
The laptop loyal are fast running out of players BR once managed/walked past in the street to link us with. :emoticon:19

Bottom line is they haven't a clue and it's killing them.

Not really seen enough of McGinn to go overboard either way. He's looked decent enough in the games I've watched. There's no guarantee that Kouassi will live up to expectations so we should be looking at Central midfielder's and keeping our options open. We need combatative, ball winning alternatives in the middle.

 
We have Brown! I know, he's getting on in years and we need a deputy. I always figured it was Armstrong, but he really an attacking midfielder.

I think Kouassi will be good, but we need to see more of him. He's very young yet.
 
I still think Armstrong might be that natural successor. I know he's more attacking right now but you can see he is happy to drop deeper at times. We should also remember that when Brown was at Hibs, he was an attacking midfielder or even played out wide at times......just like Armstrong! I still genuinely believe that Liam Henderson probably has what it takes to play that Brown role as well. He's been played more attacking most of the time when Rodgers has used him and when he was at Hibs last season he played in a much more attacking role, even playing out wide at times but I just don't think he's got the pace and acceleration for that position. For me he's a holding midfielder or attacking midfielder because he's got a pretty good pass on him and he's not afraid to get physical. By the way Henderson has 2 younger brothers, both of which are in our youth teams and Henderson has apparently said that compared to them he's the worst footballer of the 3! The middle brother, Ewan Henderson has made the step up to our development side this year and has been very impressive. A lot more attacking and not as built as Liam. He'll be one to watch!

There were reports over the weekend that we've made a £6.8m bid to Man City to sign Patrick Roberts! That deal would also have a large sell-on clause for Man City. I know we don't want to spend too much on players but I'd say he's worth that! I'd do that deal. However Man City paid about £12m for him.....they can take a hit on a transfer fee like that though and with the sell on clause could still make back most of that money. However the real question is whether Man City actually want to keep him and whether they would play him or not....that's up for Pep Guardiola to decide! They may decide to loan him out again next season but maybe to another EPL team to see how he gets on.
 
It sounds as though Kris Commons may retire now that his contract with Celtic has ended. Either that or any club that does take him will need to be on a pay as you play basis as he has admitted that he just couldn't get fit this season other than when he went out to Hibs after getting some good training in between October and December. When he returned he felt his back go again and just couldn't get to the level required. I think if he's going to go anywhere, it will probably be Hibs. I'd keep an eye out for Commons moving in to coaching once he does retire though, said he actually quite enjoyed watching on this season (plus it meant he could have a drink).

We're being linked with a move for Johnny Hayes......this is pure media speculation. BR likes him as a player and they're both from Northern Ireland and BR always makes a point of speaking to him after every game we play against Aberdeen. I believe they might go back quite far in terms of when they first met as well. However at 29 and possibly at the peak of his career right now.....why would we want him? He's not proven at European level and that's where BR wants to take us in terms of what level of player he wants. I don't see this rumour being even remotely true!

We've been linked with former Barcelona and Juventus defender Martin Caceres. He signed a short term deal with Southampton in January but that ended this summer and he is now a free agent. The 30 year old Uruguayan CB started off in his homeland before moving to Villareal. After impressing in Spain he moved to Barcelona, was loaned to Juventus and after a loan spell at Sevilla, was then sold to Sevilla. After 6 months at Sevilla, he was loaned to Juventus again who then signed him that summer. He then spent the next 4 years at Juventus until he became a free agent. I was actually surprised we didn't move for him last season but with Kolo Toure already in the squad, we perhaps didn't need him. Now that Toure is moving into the coaching side, someone of Caceres' ability and experience could be vital. He's not the tallest CB you'll come across but he also plays as a RB. His problem appears to be very much that he's almost as injury prone as Boerrigter. He's a good player when fit, that much is obvious! He has somehow managed to win numerous trophies with his clubs but the most he's ever managed is around 20 appearances in a season due to injuries. I think we should probably pass on this one!
 
So I was having a look at young players who might be good additions to our squad. The U20 World Cup is currently taking place in South Korea so I had a look to see if any players in particular jumped out. I've found 2 talented young players that we could take a chance on. The problem with players of this age is that you really don't know how they will work out, as we've seen before in the past.

Ritsu Doan - 18 year old Japanese attacker. I'm calling him an attacker as he's normally a right winger with a left foot but he can also play as a secondary striker or attacking midfielder and also play on the left wing. Basically anywhere across the front behind the striker. Size wise he's not too bad for a Japanese player and he's not afraid to get stuck in. He's still more often used as a sub by Gamba Osaka but he has started a few games as well. In fact in general he scores more often and they win more when he does start the game! He's not blessed with outstanding pace and he's not tricky like Patrick Roberts, but he does have the ability to glide past defenders and he has a pretty cultured left foot. Like Roberts he likes to cut in and shoot at goal or equally he's happy to cross the ball to set up his team-mates. He's the sort of player who is perhaps in a similar mould to Coutinho which is what BR wants but obviously at this age it's difficult to tell. He doesn't play with the flamboyance of Coutinho but their size and way they play are similar. He's got a good eye for a pass and comes up with some really creative play.
His current value is only £128k so even if we had to pay more, he could still be an absolute bargain! He's the sort of player who's probably going to end up in Germany in a year or two anyway, we need to be beating them to these sorts of players!

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The other player I found I would suggest is the new Ki Sung-Yong.

Han Chan-Hee is a 20 year old South Korean international and captain's the side. Like I say I think he is VERY similar to Ki. He can be more combative in midfield and he's not yet the same size as Ki but he quite simply is a playmaker. He likes to sit in midfield and collect passes from his team-mates before usually giving it back to them in a better position or by spreading the play out somewhere else. It's not always the most glamorous play but particularly against teams who will sit in deep, he can be very influential as opposition players are drawn out to him and the ball making room for other players. You can be a very effective player even if all you do is help others to move up the pitch. By making space for himself and then his teammates they can play some really nice one-touch football and pass the ball around their opposition.
Look at BR's history, he's normally liked a player such as this in his teams. Leon Britton and Joe Allen at Swansea and Lucas at Liverpool. The only problem with him for now is that he'd be up against Scott Brown for a starting spot so for a few years at least he's not going to get in the team much. However in Europe we could play both of them together to be a bit more compact. The lad looks a talent and whether or not you were a fan of Ki, you can't deny that when he plays well he is a top class player! He runs the show when he plays for South Korea, just the same as Han does for the U20s.

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We're being linked with a move for out of favour Middlesbrough winger Viktor Fischer. I think it would be a good move. Boro have been relegated and are looking for a new manager. They'll want some cash back on a player who only started around 6 games all season but they only paid £4.25m for a player who has won trophies with Ajax in Holland and also played in both the Champions League and Europa League. It should be noted that he did have a knee injury which kept him out of games for a bit it would seem. He's versatile as he can play on either wing or in behind the striker. He's 23 in a week's time so still young. Unlike our other wingers, Fischer is quite tall and while he's still quick, he's not a tricky little winger like we currently have. Typical of an Ajax player he's technically very good and combines well with team-mates to create good flowing football which would fit in perfectly with what BR has created here. He's a pretty good goalscorer as well with 33 goals and 19 assists in 111 games for Ajax. Given his age that's a pretty good statistic.
There is talk of us trying to get him for a fee in the region of £3m or more likely about £3.8m. He only signed a 3 year deal so has 2 years left so might well be able to get a cut on the price.
 
Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea are to fight it out for Moussa Dembele (if he even wants to go anywhere as I still believe he's not pushing for a move anywhere and would be quite happy to stay for another year or so). The price being touted at the moment is that they'll need to find at least £30m to get Celtic to even agree.

Johnny Hayes rumour......well apparently we've put in a bid for him, we've formally made contact with Aberdeen and they are willing to let him leave for the right price or deal. They want Ryan Christie back, whether that would be a loan or permanent but it seems Christie isn't too keen on going back yet and wants to try and force his way in to the Celtic team. If Christie isn't part of the deal then we'd be paying around £1.2m for 29 year old Hayes. Far too much for someone of his age in my opinion. We're only going to get 1 or 2 good seasons out of him. I just don't see the point. Different if he was some world class or at least European class player but he's not. He moved to Inverness at the age of 22, then he's been at Aberdeen for the last 5 years. He's 30 this summer. I just don't see how this move makes ANY sense for us.
Fortunately only ONE media source has this story and everywhere else that has mentioned it has stated that it's according to the Daily Mail. I therefore remains to be seen whether it's complete shite or not!

We've also been linked with 19 year old Senegalese winger Ismaila Sarr of FC Metz. He only joined them last summer but his 5 goals and 5 assists in 33 Ligue1 games have impressed a few clubs. However one of the interested parties is said to be Newcastle United and Rafa Benitez has already sounded out Metz about a £10m+ offer for the winger. Effectively ruling us out of any move! Even more out of it if the news that Metz want £13m for him are true.
 
Reports from all over the place are suggesting that we are close to agreeing a deal with Man City for Patrick Roberts and it would seem he is interested in returning to the club. With a figure of at least £5m from the sale of VVD to one of a number of interested clubs (Liverpool appear to be front runners right now) that money is going straight towards paying for Roberts it would seem. That money will be in addition to what else BR has to spend and so if he takes the 2-3m he would spend on someone else and adds it to the VVD money then that should be a tempting offer for Man City!
It also appears that Roberts could be given the famous No.7 number for next season. Currently Ciftci has that number but as he's unlikely to be part of the squad for long then his number won't matter. Roberts has recently changed his twitter handle from Patrick27Roberts to Patrick7Roberts fueling the rumours of his permanent move and to the change in squad number!

We're also being linked with an Iranian striker from Rostov in Russia....but due to the price tag that will only be if Moussa Dembele leaves!
On that subject, it seems even more clubs are interested in him now and AC Milan are now trying to jump to the front of the queue. There's only one issue for Milan.....they only finished 6th in the league,1 point ahead of Inter but 7 points behind Lazio in 5th place. Milan will qualify for the Europa League but they won't be playing Champions League football this season. That could be a big factor for Dembele. Yes we need to qualify but if we do then we'll be playing CL football so why would he leave a club he's happy at to go and play at a lower level of European football....regardless of whether he'd be playing in a better league. I think he'll only leave us for a Champions League team and Milan have gone through tough times recently and I think it would be a riskier move. They are not the team they were!
 
Eoghan O'Connell has officially left the club! His contract was up at the end of the month and was therefore a free agent. He has agreed to join former Kilmarnock manager Lee Clark at Bury.
All the best to Eoghan, a cracking lad a decent footballer who was just a bit unlucky not to progress further with us....partly due to injuries! I'll never forget his stunning strike against Leicester at Celtic Park last summer!
 
It certainly looks as though Saidy Janko is leaving the club with a few Championship teams set to buy him for a 6 figure sum. Not bad considering he joined us on a free or compensation at most which wouldn't have been much.

GMS continues to be linked with a number of clubs. Aberdeen are said to want him as part of a deal for Johnny Hayes plus they want Christie back on loan again as well. Sheffield United are looking one of the more interested clubs.

I still don't believe BR will sign Johnny Hayes, I just don't understand why he would.

Reto Ziegler has been offered a contract by Celtic. The out of contract, 31 year old former Swiss international has been telling the media that he's honoured to have been given offers by both Celtic and Real Betis. Ziegler is a player I suggested we should have signed and I've been saying it for years. He mostly plays as a CB now but he used to be a LB or even LM and I'm sure at times he even played CM. He would bring a lot of experience having previously played for Spurs, Juventus, Sampdoria, Fenerbache, Lokomotiv Moscow, most recently FC Sion and his first club was Grasshoppers Zurich. He has played at 2 world cups and 6 seasons he has played in the UEFA or Europa Leagues.
 
Scott Allan has joined Dundee on loan.

We're being linked with a move for Adnan Januzaj and Liverpool youngster Ryan Kent. Januzaj is wanted off the wage bill by Mourinho and only has 1 year left on his deal. I doubt he'll be short of admirers but he's not continued to push on as some thought he would after his bright start at Man Utd. That makes him a little bit of a risk but a club like Celtic could be a good move for him if the money is realistic. I did see him put in some good performances for Sunderland last season. Anyone would struggle in that team though.
Ryan Kent is a Liverpool academy graduate and it is thought Liverpool would only be willing to loan him out rather than sell him.
 
So apparently I know nothing because we've signed Johnny Hayes.......I don't really understand it but I can only hope he's a bit of a Kris Commons and his best days are in his later years! Obviously I hope now that he's signed he does well but I'm just a bit confused by the signing.

We're apparently going to miss out on the young Serbian winger we've been keeping tabs on. He's joining Sparta Prague for £1.5m. At that price, if we really wanted him and REALLY thought he would add the quality that BR wants then we'd have got him. So I think that's another one we can mark down to media speculation more than anything.

BR has told the media that he wants one more signing before the qualifiers and believes that more quality signings will become available both from England and across Europe later in the transfer window. I can understand that thinking, clubs sign players and that makes players who are already at the club and play in the same position unhappy and maybe pushes them down the pecking order....making them more available to a move.
As yet, still no idea who that one before the qualifiers is.....a defender? midfielder? striker? I would guess that it's a defender, a CB most likely. Perhaps hoping that Reto Ziegler joins before the qualifiers......
 
We've reportedly told Nadir Ciftci to find a new club and he is seemingly not even with the squad on the pre-season tour in Austria right now.

However, Brendan Rodgers' son Anton is with the squad. The 24 year old midfielder is a free agent after his contract with Swindon expired this summer. The former Chelsea youth is unlikely to be making a permanent move to Celtic however and it seems this is probably just giving him a good pre-season workout until he finds a new club.
 
Apparently we're in the latter stages of signing Kundai Benyu. 19 year old midfielder (can play just about anywhere although not really a winger) who's contract with Ipswich has just expired. He was playing for Aldershot Town in the National League last season, scored 5 goals with 3 assists in 23 appearances. Spurs, West Ham and Aston Villa are all but a few who have been scouting him but we seem to be pretty close to it. I would imagine he'll mainly play with our Development squad this season though. Found a few clips from his time at Aldershot, he looks OK but no better than any other young player already at the club. Scored some decent free-kicks. He's also apparently been called up to the Zimbabwe squad for the AFCON qualifiers. He was born in Camden in London but obviously his parents are from Zimbabwe so they obviously see something in him and he's not yet been capped by any England youth team it seems so they want to tie him up now.
 
Sorry wee_od, Please accept my a-po'-lo'-gies (Blackadder ref for absolutely no reason), just catching up.

Hayes is the only player in the league I'd have taken. Scores, creates, can play on both wings with ease, has pace to burn and can also play as the lone striker. In both football terms and financially it was a no-brainer to add him to the squad.

Really wish O'Connell well. I think it was only a lack of pace which was the deciding factor for BR. Eric isn't exactly blessed with pace either which is why I reckon BR is looking to bring in a CB.

I think we should sign that young Ha Ha Hee btw :emoticon:67

Don't think Benyu is the 'one more in' before the qualifiers. More likely a project BR can develop and improve.

I've, rightly, ignored all the players the desperate laptop loyal have linked us with, as well as the Celtic players they've tried so hard to sell on our behalf. Bless.

 
Haha! Don't worry about it Tic. It's been fairly quiet so far really. 2 signings but I think you're right, I'm not convinced Benyu is the "one more in before the qualifiers" because to me he's a project as you rightly suggest. He's certainly not going to come in and get a spot in the first team or even threaten any of our fringe CMs like Eboue, Ajer?????, or Bitton.

I can see the sense in Hayes from that point of view. But is it really a signing to push us on in Europe?
Now being linked with Lazar Markovic. BR signed him for Liverpool for £21.25m from Benfica. Last season he was on loan at Sporting Lisbon and then Hull. He was impressive at Hull! Jurgen Klopp doesn't like him though and he'll be leaving one way or another. However given some of the other clubs reportedly interested, I find it hard to believe we'll be his first choice and even then it would only be on loan.

Are you serious about the Korean lad? You really agree that he'd be a good signing?
The next Ki I reckon! I feel he'd suit our style and setup. He's still young and I feel he's the sort of player that will end up in Italy or Germany and be really good before an EPL team snaps him up for big money. We're getting beaten to these players when we should really be snapping them up now. Yes it technically means we're a stepping stone but for a player like that and for the sort of money we could make on him......why not?
 
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