Celtic have been linked with their former player Victor Wanyama in the last few months. The Kenyan ace has fallen down the pecking order at Tottenham and reports (The Scottish Sun) mention that Jose Mourinho wants to offload him. Wanyama has featured just four times this season, and Celtic could have been a destination for him. The midfielder had made 91 appearances for Celtic in his first stint and won two league titles with them.
However, Neil Lennon has more or less ruled out a move for the midfielder this month. It was Lennon who had discovered Wanyama while he was playing for Belgian outfit Beerschot nine years ago. The manager did say that he was in his thoughts but explained that accommodating him could be tough.
Lennon reveals the chance of signing Wanyama this month
The former Hibernian boss said, ”Victor’s in my thoughts but could we afford him? I doubt it very much. The problem is where do you fit him in, with bringing Soro in, if we also have [Scott] Brown, [Nir] Bitton, [Callum] McGregor, [Olivier] Ntcham. I don’t think that’s going to be an option.”
Right call from the manager?
Wanyama’s wage could also be an issue, and Celtic are doing well in midfield so far this season. The midfielder would also be reasonably rusty as he has hardly featured for Spurs this season.
Meanwhile, Scott Brown is still playing week in week out like he is in his prime. Many expected Lennon to manage his game time this season given his age, but Brown seems to be supremely fit and is still going strong at 34.
Hence, signing a defensive midfielder isn’t a pressing issue for Lennon this month. Ismaila Soro is also on the verge of moving to Parkhead, and he too is an option in defensive midfield. He is unlikely to play much this season, but he would get the much-needed experience under his belt to be a long term replacement for Brown.
Wanyama would undoubtedly be a quality signing as his strength, physicality and quality on the ball could have made the difference for Celtic. But signing him would have given a lot of headaches to Lennon in terms of team selection. Celtic’s wage bill could have also gone haywire in trying to afford the African midfielder, and it is the right call from the manager to not go for him even though he has the quality to thrive at Parkhead.
