According to the reports from the Sun, Celtic are said to be keen on signing Ecuadorian midfielder Jose Cifuentes. The midfielder currently plies his trade for Universidad Catolica in his homeland. Premier League heavyweights Manchester City have reportedly made contact with his team on whether a deal would be possible or not. Currently winless in the English top-flight Watford are also said to be on his heels.
The young midfielder gained significant recognition this year when he starred for Ecuador in the u-20 World Cup where they finished third. Even in the summer, the Hoops were linked with the 20-year-old midfielder.
Does Celtic need a midfielder?
Cifuentes is predominantly a defensive midfielder, and Celtic should be on the lookout for a long term replacement of club captain Scott Brown. Olivier Ntcham was linked with a move away in the summer, and we feel that he isn’t going to be at Parkhead for the long haul. Nir Bitton is also an option to start in defensive midfield, but he might be better suited to play in defence as we have seen this season. Therefore a player like Cifuentes will be an excellent addition for the Hoops.
What will Cifuentes bring to the table?
The midfielder is still relatively raw, and the fact that he hasn’t played outside of Ecuador before might mean that any club who signs him in Europe might have to be patient with him initially.
Nevertheless, the talent is there for everyone to see as Cifuentes is a robust and strong midfielder and he recently caught the eye with the Ecuador senior team as well.
He is calm in possession and can carry the ball out from the back with ease. The fact that Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City are interested in him is a testament to Cifuentes’ ball-playing abilities. Along with all these, he also has a few goals to his game, and he can easily thrive in a box to box role as well. Here is one of his special strike from the u-20 World Cup.
Now THAT'S how you strike first in a #U20WC quarter-final 👏
This rocket from @FEFecuador's Jose Cifuentes is our Goal of the Day 🚀🇪🇨 pic.twitter.com/QcJmnGJ624
— FIFA (@FIFAcom) June 8, 2019
All in all, Cifuentes will be a complete package and Lennon should be all over him. The Ecuadorian has the potential to be the next Wanyama.
Manchester City might have the financial muscle to beat Celtic, but the Hoops can probably give him a much easier path to first-team football which would be essential for his development at this stage of his career. It remains to be seen how keen Lennon would be for him in January or the next summer.
