Celtic are facing a torrid time as they recently crashed out of the Champions League qualifiers after they had the lead in the second half. It was quite clear before the summer that Lennon will have to amp up his transfer pursuits, but the club is still short on players in quite a few departments.
With the season already underway, fans are right to raise the question why the club did not complete its transfer business early especially when they needed to compete in Champions League qualifiers which anyway starts earlier than the league season. Moreover, the money invested by the club is also something which is not going to go down well with the fans as Celtic have sold players for big money, but they are looking for cheaper alternatives to replace them.
Recently reports from The Scottish Daily Mail (13/08 print edition, pages 79/80) conveys that Lennon will look to sign as many as four players before the transfer window shuts down. Here are the positions where they want to add options, and we give a verdict on whether they really need to strengthen there or not.
Left-back
Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo was brought in early as Kieran Tierney was injured. However, he didn’t play the biggest game of Celtic’s season so far as he was on the bench for the second leg against Cluj. That shows Lennon had lost confidence in him after his disastrous first-leg display. It is no surprise to see Celtic eyeing a left-back now after what happened, and Bolingoli might only be seen as a backup if Celtic decides to bring in a standout option with Tierney’s money. A must need signing at the moment.
Right-back
The club signed Hatem Abd Elhamed, but again fans are slightly disappointed that the club didn’t invest much to solve this problematic area. Another right-back is said to be on the agenda and fans would hope that they will bring in a top option. Celtic knew they would lose three right-backs this summer and we are in the final weeks of the transfer window. Unfortunately, the club are still looking for options. Again, Celtic desperately needs to add an option here.
Winger
Lennon has almost spectacularly kept Scott Sinclair away from the first team so far. The English winger enjoyed a decent (ish) season, but now he has fallen behind the pecking order to even Lewis Morgan. It is quite clear that Lennon doesn’t trust Sinclair and he wants a new option. We think that the club should look to buy a versatile attacker instead of an outright winger.
Striker
Celtic currently have three strikers at their disposal, but the gap in terms of quality between each one of them is massive. Vakoun Issouf Bayo was again one of Celtic’s so-called shrewd signing which has backfired so far. A lot rests on Odsonne Edouard and to some extent Leigh Griffiths’ shoulders this season. Therefore it is only right for the Hoops to bring in a new striker even though the club have three strikers at their disposal.
