Celtic News Round Up - 16/08/21 - 20/08/21



Celtic news round up - Week beginning Monday 16th August

Welcome the penultimate edition of my Celtic News Round Up this summer. The second last week of the transfer window came with lots of rumours and news so let’s get into the latest. 


There were three predominant players Celtic were linked with this week. Liam Scales, Giorgos Giakoumakis and Josip Juranovic are their names. Let’s begin with the latter. Juranovic was first associated with Celtic a number of weeks ago by Sky Sports. The Croatian now looks set to become a Celtic player in the coming days according to several outlets and journalists. The 26 year old played for his current club, Legia Warszawa, in Europa League qualifiers on Thursday evening and netted a wonderful long range effort, disclosing part of what the right back can bring to Celtic. Juranovic is currently in Glasgow to undergo a medical and sign a four year deal, as per Anthony Joseph. It seems an official announcement is imminent. This means Yan Couto will not be joining Celtic, common sense would tell you. Lyall Thomas of Sky Sports said on Monday Celtic moved for Juranovic as their push for Couto came to nothing. Thomas also stated later in the week that a price for Josip Juranovic is in the region of £2.5 million. He was backed up by Izak Ante Sucic who mentioned a price of around €3 million plus bonuses which works out at approximately £2.5 million. In my opinion, this is a peerless piece of business; an extremely modest price for a ten time capped Croatian international who has European experience and is just entering his prime at the age of 26. 


Liam Scales’ plight almost mirrors that of Juranovic’s. The Irishman scored a looping header for Shamrock Rovers midweek although we don’t have the fine details of this deal such as the length of the contract and when medicals will take place. Barry Anderson of The Scotsman Tweeted “Liam Scales to Celtic from Shamrock Rovers is pretty far down the line. Left-footed centre-back, 6ft 3in, age 23, also plays left-back. Expected to play for Rovers in Estonia tonight against Flora Tallinn. Celtic deal worth over £500,000 should go through in the next few days”. The other player I mentioned previously was Georgios Giakoumakis however we’ll get on to the Greek forward once I’ve spoken about the centre back position. 


Although a deal for Liam Scales seems close, it is unclear whether the Irishman will be first team ready or not. Three centre backs who have been linked with Celtic at one point or another this summer found new clubs this week. Probably the most ambitious move was for Ecuadorean defender Piero Hincapie who joined Bayer Leverkusen on a five year deal. We’ve spoke about Ben Davies on my blog in previous News Round Ups and the Englishman has joined Sheffield United on a season long loan in the last five days. Another former Celtic target who joined a team on a season long loan recently is Ko Itakura. The Japanese joined Schalke. His loan though, includes an option to buy for around €4 million according to Max Bielefeld. This leaves one centre back, that we know Celtic are interested in apart from Liam Scales, left. The latest update on American Cameron Carter-Vickers came from journalist Larry Henry Jr; “Bournemouth has ended talks with Tottenham over #USMNT defender Cameron Carter-Vickers, a source close to the player confirmed today. Looks like just Newcastle United left on the table for now”. Yes, there is no mention of Celtic here although the club have been interested in the 23 year old throughout the window. Let’s now talk about Georgios Giakoumakis. 


The news of Celtic’s interest in the Greek striker was first broke by Duncan Castles. At the time, he said that Celtic were optimistic over a €3.5 million deal. Since then, Giakoumakis has reportedly been in Bremen according to Bild. They also said though, the 26 year old would like an annual salary of €700,000 which may put off Werder Bremen. Duncan Castles then said Werder Bremen have matched Celtic’s offer for Giakoumakis though. Then, on Friday evening, Sky Sports’ Anthony Joseph reported “Celtic are continuing their pursuit of VVV-Venlo striker Georgios Giakoumakis with talks ongoing with his agent. Transfer fee is not believed to be an issue. Werder Bremen also in talks. A number of other clubs in Europe & Middle East have expressed interest in the last 24 hours”. Bringing in another striker looks like an intriguing move from Celtic with the on form Kyogo Furuhashi, Albian Ajeti and the controversial, to say the least, Leigh Griffiths at the club. Not to mention Odsonne Edouard, whom Celtic are yet to receive any serious offers for this summer according to Ed Aarons of the Guardian. Thomas Henry is another name that has been linked with Celtic in recent times. The Daily Record said recently Celtic could revive their interest in the Frenchman after a move to Gent was reportedly near to collapsing. It looks though like Georgios Giakoumakis is closer to Celtic. Either that or it is just a deal that has been reported about more. That’s all this week for transfer news. Let’s get into matters other than this. 


Celtic won 2-0 against AZ Alkmaar in the first leg of their Europa League play off on Wednesday night. Kyogo Furuhashi and James Forrest got themselves on the score sheet. Rather notably, Celtic managed to keep a clean sheet in this game. Ange Postecoglou’s men were resolute at the back as they took a closer step to the Europa League group stages. Although there will be a full house at Celtic Park this weekend for the visit of St. Mirren, there will be no Celtic supporters allowed into Ibrox for the Derby next Sunday, the Daily Record exclusively revealed. For the St. Mirren game this weekend though, Ryan Christie will be back, fit and available for selection manager Ange Postecoglou confirmed. 


It was once again a hectic week of Celtic news. Thank you very much for reading. In my next article, I will be writing about Celtic’s player ratings from the match against St. Mirren on Saturday. Feel free to leave a comment below or contact and follow me on Twitter @Josh_Footblog.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Celtic v Hearts: Five things we learned

Image
On a cold, December’s night in the East End of Glasgow, Celtic had to beat Hearts to almost stay in the SPFL title race. Ange Postecoglou’s men lived up to the challenge with Kyogo Furuhashi’s goal proving decisive. Let’s get into three things we learned from the match.   Celtic’s squad depth is continually being put to the test With Celtic missing Cameron Carter-Vickers    through personal reasons and Giorgos Giakoumakis, along with many others, through injury, the thoroughness of the Celtic team is undoubtedly being put to the test. In addition, all three substitutes made by Ange Postecoglou this evening were forced with all of Anthony Ralston, Stephen Welsh and Jota being retracted for one reason or another. All of the above reasons clearly connote the need for recruitment in the January transfer window.  Carl Starfelt is nothing but reliable Upon return from injury, Swedish centre back Carl Starfelt was handed a vital role at the heart of the Celtic defence. The ...
Read more

Who is Jacob Brown?

Image
Scotland will take on Moldova and Denmark in the upcoming International break with just three points needed to secure a play off for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. For the Moldova match in particular, Scotland will be without Ryan Christie and on-form striker Lyndon Dykes; both will miss out through suspension. It was suspected that a new name would be brought in to fill the void with the likes of Johnny Russell and Tony Watt believed to be in the fray although Steve Clarke opted for an unsuspected pick in Stoke City forward Jacob Brown.   The now twenty three year old begun his career at English National League side Guiseley before moving to Barnsley under eighteens in 2015. Brown worked his way through the ranks at the South Yorkshire club before making his first team debut for Barnsley in the 16/17 season. Brown made an additional cameo later on in the campaign, mounting his total to two appearances for the season. In the first half of the 17/18 campaign, the attacker played five ...
Read more

Scotland’s Steve Clarke debate

Image
It is undeniable that Steve Clarke has enjoyed great success since he was appointed Scotland manager back in 2019.   Getting to Euro 2020 and leading his side to their best World Cup qualifying campaign since 1998 has to be commended.   However, poor results in some big matches and a lack of tactical adaptability have led many to question Steve Clarke’s credentials as Scotland manager.  These concerns gathered real pace after a deflating World Cup play off loss to Ukraine but it is fair to say the warning signs have been there for a while.  Despite qualifying for Euro 2020, Scotland’s performance at last summer’s tournament was somewhat disappointing. Granted, the goalless draw with England at Wembley was well deserved and nothing could be done about the quality of the Croatia side that won 3-1 at Hampden but the 2-0 home defeat to the Czech Republic in the opening game was unsettling.  Playing in front of their own supporters in their first major tournamen...
Read more