West Ham have joined the long list of clubs keen on signing Evan Ferguson on loan as Celtic‘s hunt for a new striker looks set to to continue into the final days of the window.
Kyogo’s departure leaves Brendan Rodgers light on out-and-out strikers with Adam Idah the only established and recognised No.9 currently available to him. There’s been plenty chatter over a new winger coming in (more on that shortly!), which could facilitate Daizen Maeda to offer backup in the middle, but all the noises are that the Hoops do want to sign a Kyogo replacement before the window closes.
The two big names linked so far have been Brondby’s Mathias Kvistgaarden and Brighton’s Ferguson, but the former’s £13.5m price tag makes that unlikely in January. And as far as Ferguson is concerned, Sky Sports now say West Ham have ‘made enquiries’ for the Ireland frontman, joining a cabal of clubs including Arsenal, Real Betis and Marseille to have registered an interest.
That by no means rules a move to Celtic out, but Brighton’s preference does appear to be a loan deal, with a view to bringing him back into their side in pre-season. And if that’s the case then it stands to reason that a loan within the Premier League, where they can keep a close eye on his development and assess him against opponents in their own division, would be preferable.
Now onto the wingers, Rodgers once joked about having ‘a million wingers’ during his first spell at Parkhead, and it looks like he’s heading back into that territory. Depth in that area was a concern not to long ago but Jota’s return now means he will be competing with Maeda, Nicolas Kuhn, Yang and James Forrest for starts. And yet they have now reportedly launched their opening bid for Norwegian winger Sondre Orjasaeter.
We brought you the news earlier today that the Hoops had ramped up their interest in the 21-year-old who is expected to cost somewhere in the region of £7m, with Sarpsborg keen to maximise his value. Now Sky Sports are reporting they have made their opening bid. Whether that means Maeda will be moved inside on a regular basis in the second half of the season to compete with Idah, or Orjasaeter is a planned addition alongside a new No.9, remains to be seen.
As far as exits go, Record Sport understands Middlesbrough are set to sign Celtic’s Josh Dede.
The English Championship have agreed a deal to sign the Scotland youth cap who is expected to complete his move to Boro in the coming days. The 19-year-old full-back has been a regular in Celtic’s B team and would go into the Middlesbrough development team in the first instance.
Dede has come through the ranks at Celtic but failed to really make his mark in the first-team. He is out of contract in the summer and this move should give him the opportunity to kick on again.
And Alex Valle now looks set to leave regardless of whether Kieran Tierney‘s return is finally green lit. His options look to be narrowing with Como looking elsewhere, after Cesc Fabregas admitted it’s getting ‘complicated.’
Celtic have so far been reluctant to to let the loanee go until they know for sure Tierney will be coming back this month. They’re confident of landing him on a pre-contract agreement and then hope to strike a deal with Arsenal to take him on loan for the second half of this season.
There was more even more confusion when it emerged that Como were looking at Lazio’s Luca Pellegrini as a possible alternative. But the latest from Fabrizio Romano is that Como have finally struck a ‘verbal agreement’ with Barcelona that will see Valle’s loan to Parkhead broken before he joins Como for the second half of the campaign.
That can of course be taken as a clue that Tierney’s return is edging closer. It’s now a case of when rather than if he is heading back to Celtic, with the major obstacle left to clear being terms with Arsenal over a January deal.