Celtic made some giant strides in the just finished January transfer window. The club pulled off a massive coup in the last few hours of the winter transfer window as they completed the signing of Borussia Dortmund right back Jeremy Toljan. It’s true that this is just a loan deal and the club might again have to negotiate in the summer transfer window for a new right-back, but for the time being, the club has a solid option for that spot.
Another major concern was the depth in attacking areas especially after Leigh Griffiths decided to take some time off football to deal with his personal matters. The Hoops just had one out and out striker in the form of Odsonne Edouard who was struggling with an injury before the start of the January window.
So it was almost a no brainer for the club to add attacking options, and Brendan Rodgers managed to secure the services of Timothy Weah, Oliver Burke and Vakoun Issouf Bayo. Out of the lot, only Issouf Bayo has joined permanently so again that is a bit of a downside to the business done by the Bhoys.
Nevertheless, it was still a fruitful window for the Hoops, and we try to look at their best starting eleven when all players are fit.
Formation (4-2-3-1)
Defence
Scott Bain has started in goal so far after the winter break but Craig Gordon is likely to get the nod ahead in the big games of the season. Dedryck Boayata stayed put at the club in January, and he remains one of the best defenders in the league. Therefore he would get back into the starting eleven when he is fit. Filip Benkovic is currently out until March, but the Leicester City loanee had firmly established himself in the starting eleven with his performances. He too gets the nod ahead of the likes of Jozo Simunovic and Kristoffer Ajer.
Down the right, we feel Toljan is an upgrade over Mikael Lustig and once the German settles in at the club, he should be the preferred starter for the manager. Another one who is currently down with an injury is Kieran Tierney, and he too would get into the best Celtic side down the left side of the defence.
Midfield
Callum McGregor hardly seems to have a bad game and he is Mr Consistent for the Hoops. He is an absolute no brainer to start in midfield. The other spot is debatable, but for his wealth of experience and leadership, we have to go in with Scott Brown, especially now that he has committed his long term future at the club.
Tom Rogic is currently out with a knee injury but Ryan Christie’s form this season makes him almost undroppable. The Scotsman should be the preferred attacking midfielder. James Forrest is the best winger that the club has, so he starts down the right.
Scott Sinclair might be scoring goals freely off late but his overall performances have been underwhelming. We would like to see Oliver Burke being tried down the left flank. However, the manager has so far used him as the man up front.
Attack
Timothy Weah and Vakoun Issouf Bayo are still unproven quantities in this division and Odsonne Edouard is going to be the best bet for the manager to lead the attack.
