According to Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzo as cited by Daily Record, Celtic had put in a bid of £8.8m for Atlanta’s right back Timothy Castagne last month. The Belgian fullback was even linked with the likes of Swansea City and Lazio as well, but Celtic had put in a mega offer which still didn’t turn out to be good enough in the end.
Reports from Cittaceleste earlier claimed that the Italian outfit had slapped a £10m price tag on the full back and Celtic came pretty close to matching that. Castagne was struggling for game time in the first part of the season but has now slowly established himself into the club’s first eleven.
The defender also confirmed that Celtic were interested in him and the fullback had thought about leaving the club in January. The 23-year-old defender was quoted as saying (Daily Record), ”I didn’t play much before the window I played little, and I admit I thought about moving. But how could I leave it like this? Celtic tried to buy me, but this is the best moment of my career, and I want to stay here.”
Celtic instead went on to secure the signing of Jeremy Toljan from Borussia Dortmund on loan, who has fit in seamlessly into Rodgers’ first-team. Celtic’s offer also shows that the club is willing to put in a massive bid to solve their right back woes once and for all. Therefore we believe there is every chance that the club could once again look to offer that kind of money to sign a new right back in the summer.
Rodgers has been in desperate need of a right back for quite some time as both Mikael Lustig and Cristian Gamboa are in the final few months of their contract. Moreover, Lustig’s performances have been underwhelming this season, and the Swedish international is already 33. Therefore, one can understand why the club was willing to offer such a fee for Castagne.
It remains to be seen now who Celtic would go after in the summer to sign permanently. We believe Toljan should be the firm favourite now given that he would have played six months of football at Parkhead by the time summer arrives. All signs point towards Toljan thriving in Rodgers’ setup at Celtic Park.
However, the German fullback still has a long term contract with Borussia Dortmund, and only time will tell whether the Bundesliga heavyweights would sell him for the price around the £10m mark. The good news for the fans is that the club is showing ambition and one can expect Rodgers to recruit a quality right back in the summer.
