Stephen McGowan has started the transfer merry-go round with all eyes at Celtic on Mark Lawwell like never before.
A dubious signing record since joining the club in July 2022 has been put in the spotlight by the recent comments of Brendan Rodgers.
The involvement of the manager in recruitment has shifted since the summer when he praised the brilliant work of Lawwell to telling the AGM that he had the final say on seven underwhelming arrivals.
Gently, gently Rodgers has been shifting his stance with the need for quality and experience to the fore in January with his squad already overloaded with project type players.
Over the last dozen games Luis Palma has been the only summer signing to play regularly, Odin Thiago Holm and Yang Hyun-Jun have had a few opportunities without making the impact required to stay in the team.
Stephen McGowan of the Daily Mail knows more about the inner working of Celtic than any other reporter, late on Friday night he revealed that Gus Lagerbielke will be allowed to leave in January if a suitable offer comes in.
That would be an admission of a faulty recruitment ‘strategy’ with fellow defenders Nat Phillips and Yuki Kobayashi also lined up for the exit door.
In the Daily Mail McGowan explains:
Signed as cover in August for an injury crisis, Phillips is expected to return to parent club Liverpool after the table-topping clash with Rangers at Celtic Park on December 30.
Japanese central defender Kobayashi has interest from the J League, while midfielder Yosuke Ideguchi is at the centre of a bidding war after Japanese champions Vissel Kobe joined the club where he is currently on loan, Avispa Fukuoka, in the race to sign him.
With Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers keen to add up to four quality additions to his squad, a £4m deal for former Benfica left-back Tiago Araujo is likely, with Brondby striker Mathias Kvistgaarden also on a list of targets.
Araujo is 22 with Kvistgaarden a year younger which hardly fits in with the experienced/quality profile laid out by Rodgers.
As well as the players listed about summer 2022 signings Alexandro Bernabei, Ben Siegrist and Sead Haksabanovic could all move on without being noticed.
CLICK HERE for Araujo’s Transfermark profile.
CLICK HERE for Kvistgaarden’s Transfermarkt profile.
🔊 LISTEN: “I felt when I came in the summer that we probably needed four quality players.”
🍀 Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers says the club are working hard to add top level players to their squad. pic.twitter.com/1xwfCY5Zab
— Clyde 1 Superscoreboard (@ClydeSSB) December 1, 2023
