Celtic seem to be getting back to winning ways after a big victory against St. Johnstone before the international break. However, there is a feeling around that the team is not that potent anymore in front of goal after losing Moussa Dembele in the summer. The Frenchman almost pushed his way out of the club, and the timing of his departure didn’t give Brendan Rodgers any time to bring in replacements. The club made £20m by selling Dembele, and we believe Rodgers should put that money to use to land Liverpool striker Divock Origi.
The Belgian was signed by Rodgers himself when he was the manager at Liverpool, and the 23-year-old did show some bright sparks here and there. However, in the last two years, he has been completely sidelined, and the Belgian forward has spent time on loan with clubs like Lille and Wolfsburg. His path to the first team at Liverpool looks closed and it was a surprise that the forward wasn’t sold or at least sent on loan somewhere in the summer.
With Daniel Sturridge’s resurgence of late and presence of Dominic Solanke, Origi is unlikely to breakthrough into the first team even in domestic cup competitions so his situation is currently grim at the Merseyside club and Celtic can make a move for him in the summer.
When the Belgian initially made his breakthrough, he was in heavy demand. When he was just 19, the forward led the Belgian national team’s lineup in the 2014 World Cup ahead of the likes of Christian Benteke and Romelu Lukaku. Since then the forward has failed to live up to the expectation and wasn’t even in the squad for this year’s World Cup in Russia.
Nevertheless, he still looks sharp and has a decent pace to burn. All he needs is a regular run in the first team to get his confidence back, and we believe he can come up with the goods especially in the Scottish Premiership. He is still just 23 so one can expect him to improve further if he keeps on working hard.
Liverpool were demanding £27m for him in the summer which was quite absurd, and nobody wanted to meet that kind of valuation for a striker who hasn’t played much football in the last few seasons. We expect the Reds to bring their asking price down in January.
Celtic should probably look to sign him on loan with an option to buy as that would give them around six months to judge whether the striker would be able to deliver for the club. The striker will add more competition for places, and we believe he can be a perfect replacement for Moussa Dembele.