Nicolas Kuhn was the headline arrival of the January transfer window at Celtic, joining from Austrian club Rapid Vienna in a deal worth around £3m. There was time for another deal on deadline day as Adam Idah arrived on loan from Norwich City, without an option to buy.
Brendan Rodgers had been able to strengthen his squad in the midst of the title battle with Rangers, but he’d initially wanted more. As the Hoops neared the signing of Kuhn, attention began to turn towards recruiting a new left-back.
Celtic made contact over a deal for Estoril’s Tiago Araujo in November but didn’t go any further, and any hope of landing Hugo Bueno from Wolves was spurned by the Premier League club’s reluctance to do business. There was even talk of a late swoop for Layvin Kurzawa at PSG, but he proved beyond their reach financially.
How the Scottish Premiership title race has evolved | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Table after Celtic 1-0 Ross County (27 January) | |||||||
Rank | Club | P | W | D | L | GD | PTS |
1 | Celtic | 23 | 18 | 3 | 2 | 39 | 57 |
2 | Rangers | 22 | 17 | 1 | 4 | 34 | 52 |
Table after Motherwell 1-3 Celtic (25 February) | |||||||
1 | Rangers | 27 | 22 | 1 | 4 | 48 | 67 |
2 | Celtic | 27 | 20 | 5 | 2 | 42 | 65 |
Celtic were five points clear of Rangers after their last game of January, but the title race picture has shifted rather dramatically since. A couple of draws against Aberdeen and Kilmarnock have opened the door for Philippe Clement’s side, and they’ve snatched the chance to go top by two points.
Sutton slams Celtic over “screaming” transfer need
Former Celtic forward and BBC pundit Chris Sutton is unhappy with the club’s failure to address what he sees as a glaring need on the left side of defence, and he fears that Rodgers’ side could be made to pay for resting on their laurels.
Speaking to Sky Sports, via 67 Hail Hail, he said: “In January, they weren’t ready as well. The left-back situation has been a position which has been screaming for Celtic to sign somebody. They haven’t done that. And I think Celtic supporters look at it like this.
“They had a chance really in the summer to absolutely bury Rangers and win the league and get the Champions League riches. That hasn’t happened.”
Rodgers has little faith in Bernabei
On paper, Rodgers would appear to be well-stocked in the position, with Alexandro Bernabei supporting Greg Taylor, but the truth is that he isn’t convinced at all by the former.
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Celtic looking to complete “huge” transfer this summer
This comes after a recent £120m boost.
Taylor missed the league games against Ross County, Aberdeen and Hibernian, and those are the only three matches Bernabei has started in the SPFL all season. In fact, aside from that, he’s made just five appearances off the bench, and he’s only featured in one of Celtic’s three cup ties so far. It appears that Rodgers wanted stronger cover and competition for his first-choice option, but he’ll have to wait until the off-season, by which point some significant damage may already have been done.
