Earlier reports from Serbian media outlets claimed that Celtic might be interested in signing Vujadin Savic from Red Star Belgrade in the summer window. However, conflicting reports also came out stating that Savic’s name was not on the books of the Scottish Champions who would have had to splurge £1.5m to get him.
The player in question was interviewed about a possible move and this is what he said – “Football is a game in which you never know what will happen tomorrow. If I stay in Belgrade I will be happy, but if the club wants to sell me this summer, then I will go. It won’t be up to me.”
A lot of news from different sources do get shifted around but over here we can take a look at the possibility of the transfer and what it would bring to the table as far as the Hoops are concerned.
Savic is a product of the Red Star academy having joined the club at just 8 years old. He passed all age categories with flying colours and went on to represent the senior team for just one year before making the switch to Ligue 1 outfit, FC Girondins Bordeaux.
The 27-year-old was still finding his rhythm in the top flight European football and did find it hard to match up to the high standards. He spent one and a half seasons out on loan to Dynamo Dresden where he started to impress with 35 total appearances.
Finally, things started to go his way and an English side, Watford called up his name for a loan move in January 2015. However, the move to the United Kingdom turned out to be a completely fruitless affair with the 6 feet 4 inches centre-back failing to make a single first-team appearance.
After spending the next 2 seasons in Moldova with Sheriff Tiraspol, Savic finally returned to his boyhood club on a 2-year deal. He has been an influential character for Red Star this season with 28 appearances across all competitions. He helped his side maintain 4 clean sheets in the group stage of the Europa League competition.
Clearly, the Glasgow based club and a bunch of European sides have taken notice of the commanding defender who quite rightfully deserves a call-up to the big times. However is he the right fit under Brendan Rodgers? The Celtic manager already has a young backline who are developing into quality professionals. Kristoffer Ajer and Jozo Simunovic have looked solid with Jack Hendry and Mikael Lustig as backup options.
They have also recently signed Marvin Compper who is expected to feature in major games in the future. While the transfer for Savic would not be the worst idea in the world, maybe Celtic are better off looking into investing in other positions at the moment.
