Scottish giants Celtic have kicked off their new campaign in a pretty handsome manner. The Celts, apart from winning all of their domestic games so far, completely outclassed Astana in the first leg of the Champions League playoff at the Celtic Park in the midweek fixture and their entry into the group stages seems to be almost certain now. The Celts banged as many as five goals without conceding any and they proved that they are more than capable of carving fine outputs for themselves this time around as well.
However, it hasn’t gone unnoticed that the Bhoys have had a pretty cold transfer window so far. Under the stewardship of Brendan Rodgers, the Glasgow giants have been taking marauding steps but then, considering that they are seemingly likely to be plying their trade in the elite club competition of Europe implies that they would need depth in their squad to chisel a commanding presence and the left-back slot remains as one of the key areas of concerns for the Hoops.
At this stroke of hour, Kieran Tierney is the only senior left-back Rodgers has in his ranks which did suffer a substantial blow owing to the departure of Emilio Izaguirre to Al-Fayha earlier this summer. Izaguirre desperately wanted to get more game time under his belt and with the availability of Tierney, staying with the white and green crops would not have helped the Honduran in meeting his needs. Nonetheless, with a very long season ahead, the former Liverpool boss will need backup, and apparently, he has zeroed in on one.
If one of the latest reports are to be believed, Celtic are eyeing Feyenoord’s versatile fullback Miquel Nelom in order to beef up their defensive options. Nelom has emerged through the youth ranks of VV Spijkenisse and Feyenoord, and after a couple of impressive seasons with Excelsior, he was brought to the De Kuip based club in 2011 and ever since his move to the Pride of the South, he has cemented his stature for the club after jotting consistent performances.
The 26-year-old left-back would be a handy package for Celtic, considering that he is capable enough to play as a centre-back as well. Erik Sviatchenko and Dedryck Boyata are out with injury and Nir Bitton, who is predominantly a midfielder, is forced to be stationed at the heart of Celtic’s defence. If Rodgers successfully manoeuvres the deal, he can meet his short-term central defensive requirements and at the same time, the Dutch international can really challenge Tierney for the first-choice left-back spot.
