Celtic’s woes from the transfer window seem to continue even on the pitch as the Hoops recently suffered a shock defeat to Kilmarnock. That has already left them 6 points behind Hearts in the Premiership table and to make matters worse, their fiercest rivals Rangers have also upstaged them to the second spot for the time being.
Rodgers suffered a massive blow on the last day of the summer transfer window when Moussa Dembele almost pushed his way out of the club to join Lyon. The club managed to keep hold of Dedryck Boyata, but even the Belgian was close to moving away, so the transfer window for the Celts was one to forget.
The manager earlier was asked in the transfer window and whether he would be interested in making a move for Liverpool’s forward Danny Ings when the rumours about him rekindling with his former manager were hot. However, Rodgers indicated that they were not interested in him.
He had said,”Danny (Ings) is a fantastic player and has been really, really unfortunate for a few years with injury but I have got three strikers at the moment and we don’t need anymore. We just signed young Odsonne Edouard on a permanent deal and he is a class act. We also have Moussa Dembele and Leigh Griffiths so with those three we are well covered.”
Obviously, Rodgers didn’t know that Dembele would create a ruckus so late in the window but the manager should have been prepared for a situation like this as Dembele has been linked with a move away from the club ever since he joined the club. Many considered the Frenchman to be too good for the Scottish Premiership and maybe if the Hoops had shown some intent to sign Ings, they would have gotten their man. Instead, the forward went on to join Southampton on loan and the move would be turned into a permanent one next summer.
Rodgers, having worked earlier with the 26-year-old striker might have had a slight edge over signing him as Ings was a Rodgers’ signing when he was the manager at Liverpool. The English forward has started the season well for the Saints as he has already scored three goals in 5 games and seems to be back to his best after struggling with injuries for the last few years.
Last season, Edouard played second fiddle to Dembele and he did well but this time around, the goalscoring onus is entirely on him and he seems to be crumbling under pressure as the former Paris Saint Germain striker has now gone on for six games without scoring. Ings would have been a top class option and maybe Rodgers might be rueing the chance of not signing him when he was available.
