According to the latest report from Daily Record, German club Wolfsburg have signed Young Boys defender Kevin Mbabu. The right-back had a loan spell with Rangers, and now the defender has joined the Bundesliga side for £8m. We believe that Celtic missed a trick here as the club genuinely needed a right back and Mbabu could have been a perfect addition for them.
The figure which Wolfsburg are paying for Mbabu; Celtic were willing to pay similar kind of sum for another right back in the January transfer window. Celtic had reportedly put in an £8.8m bid for Atlanta’s right back Timothy Castagne, but that wasn’t enough to lure him to Parkhead.
Celtic might end up winning all the domestic honours once again, but they will have a massive task at hand in the summer as the squad is likely to go through a major rebuilding phase. The Hoops are not helping their cause by keeping the manager situation uncertain. With so many signings and decisions to make, Celtic would be better of announcing someone permanently soon.
One area where they will definitely need to add reinforcement is in the right back position. As things stand, Celtic will lose three right backs in the next few months as their contracts are expiring. Recently reports had emerged that Mikael Lustig is unlikely to sign a new contract at Parkhead.
Why Mbabu would have been a perfect addition?
The 23-year-old is currently in the prime of his career and is already quite experienced. Mbabu is one of those typical modern day full backs as he has blistering pace and he can really affect the game while going forward. Defensively too, he can do a decent job, and the player is just getting started.
The defender recently represented Swiss giants Young Boys in the Champions League, and he didn’t look out of place against the likes of Juventus and Manchester United. His work rate is also an asset as he is willing to run up and down the right side of the pitch and Celtic could have got a long term solution for their right back problems if they went for him.
Moreover, the price tag was just about perfect for the Hoops as they showed in January that they were willing to spend a similar figure for another player. Now, the board will need to target other right backs in the summer and hope that letting Lustig away doesn’t come back to bite them.
