Celtic have made a stuttering start to the season as they missed out on Champions League qualification and are already six points off from the top of the table. To add more salt to the wounds, they didn’t have a fruitful summer window as they lost the likes of Stuart Armstrong, Moussa Dembele and Patrick Roberts. Dembele’s loss was the biggest, as the Frenchman, who was expected to stay, left the club to join French giants Lyon on the last day of the transfer window.
The Hoops were also close to losing Dedryck Boyata, but he stayed put at the club for the time being. The sale of attacking players has made them lose their cutting edge in the final third and therefore we expect Brendan Rodgers to go after a player who will make a real difference in front of goal.
Rodgers shouldn’t look too far from Wigan Athletic’s Nick Powell, who the Hoops have been linked with recently. However, they are set to face some fierce competition for his signature, with Premier League club Brighton and Hove Albion also interested in him. The Hoops made some good money by selling Dembele to Lyon so to land Powell; they might be able to outbid someone like Brighton.
The race for the Englishman could kick-off in January as he is in the final year of his contract and a move to the Premier League would be tempting, as this would give him a second shot to prove his worth in the English top flight.
The Englishman shot into limelight after Manchester United signed him as a 20-year-old in 2012. He wasn’t able to break into their team regularly, but if a club of Manchester United’s is interested, then there must be something special in the player.
Powell is a dynamic player and comes to light when he gets the ball in the attacking third. His sharpness and intelligence stand out as he sees passes other players struggle to find in the attacking half of the pitch. Last season, the former England u-21 international was a crucial player for Wigan Athletic where they topped the League One. The attacking midfielder scored 15 goals and provided with seven assists in the 39 league games and this season; he looks more deadly as he has already scored four and assisted four in the nine Championship games so far.
Since his Manchester United days, the 24-year-old has come up through leaps and bounds, and we feel he will be able to add a spark to the attacking unit at Celtic Park. He can play in the no10 role as well as a striker, and his biggest strength is his link-up play and ability to find a decisive pass in the final third. The Englishman is not too shoddy in front of goal, and he boasts a powerful header as well. This makes him a decent fit for Rodgers’ system, and the manager should look to sign him up after the turn of the year.
