Previously linked Celts: Where are they now?

Every transfer window, throughout the world of football, numerous players are linked to a whole host of clubs. 

It is common for moves which are reported in the newspapers to not come to fruition and fans to closely follow the players their clubs were linked with career’s paths. 

That is certainly the case at Celtic and today, we’ll be taking a close look at three players who were reportedly of interest to the Parkhead club yet didn’t end up making the move to Glasgow. 

Ivan Toney

One of the biggest ‘ones that got away’ for the Hoops is now Brentford man Ivan Toney. 

Despite the congenial partnership Leigh Griffiths and Odsonne Edouard struck up prior to the Covid outbreak and Patryk Klimala’s presence, Neil Lennon was still in search of a striker in the 2020 summer transfer window to bolster his squad. 

Numerous names were linked but the one Celtic fans seemed captivated by the most was Ivan Toney’s. He was just off the back of a storming season in English League One with Peterborough, scoring 26 goals in all competitions for The Posh. 

The Englishman was reportedly on the cusp of a deal to join Celtic, even coming as close as touring the training facilities and stadium however in an interview with TalkSport, Toney revealed the club weren’t too keen. 

Should the now twenty six year old have made the move, he could’ve positively affected the failed ten in a row campaign as whilst Celtic struggled, Toney proceeded to break several records in the English Championship with Brentford, whom he joined for an initial £5 million fee (Sky Sports) after his move to Celtic fell through. 

The striker ended up breaking the record for the most goals scored in a single season in the Championship in 2020/21 as he netted 31 times for the Bees however that record has since been broken by Fulham’s Serbian talisman Aleksander Mitrovic.

In his record-breaking campaign in England’s second tier, Toney also registered 10 assists and averaged a goal contribution every 94 minutes. He eventually aided his new club in getting promoted to the Premier League through the play offs in his first season there. 

With Brentford in the Premier League, Toney has proved himself as a top-level striker, scoring 12 goals and assisting 5 in 33 appearances - a respectable return whilst playing for a side who ended up finishing 13th in the table. 

Not signing Ivan Toney was unequivocally one of Celtic’s biggest mistakes in the transfer market in recent years. The Englishman is undoubtedly a prolific goalscorer and has seen his market value skyrocket to over £30 million on Transfermarkt of late. It is no surprise Toney is being linked with moves to teams like Arsenal and Newcastle as a result of his prodigious form since his move to Celtic collapsed. 

Harold Moukoudi

A number of centre backs were linked with Celtic in the summer of 2018 as injury among others caused somewhat of a crisis in the heart of Brendan Rodgers’ defence. 

The Northern Irishman ended up adding Croatian Filip Benkovic to his squad on a season-long loan from Leicester however that wasn’t without other players reportedly being in the running to sign. Scott McKenna was linked however one of the most intriguing names, at least at the time, to be mentioned was Harold Moukoudi’s. 

The Scottish Sun reported the central defender’s services would cost Celtic at least £5 million, a hefty fee for a then twenty year old. 

Despite links to the Hoops and clubs like Burnley, West Ham and Aston Villa at the time, Moukoudi ended up seeing out the last year of his contract at Le Havre and made the move to Saint-Etienne on a free in 2019. In his first six months with the club, Moukoudi experienced a rather tough time and joined Middlesbrough on a six month loan in January 2020 which didn’t end up being productive due to the Covid outbreak. 

He returned to France ahead of the 2020/21 campaign and throughout that season and the next one, Moukoudi became a regular Ligue 1 defender, making a combined 50 appearances in the competition for Saint-Etienne. 

In the midst of all this, the now twenty four year old has also switched international allegiances to Cameron and earned 11 caps for the African nation, three of which coming in the most recent AFCON. 

Heading into this summer, Moukoudi has one year left on his deal at Saint-Etienne and with the club recently relegated to the second tier of French football, the ideal time for a sale could be imminently. However, it is fair to say the now Ligue 2 side may struggle to rake in a fee near to the one surrounding Moukoudi’s name a few years ago as after being linked to Celtic, the Cameroonian has failed to capture the imagination. 

Nonetheless, it would’ve been interesting to see how Moukoudi would’ve got on in Glasgow should he have made the move as at the time, the young central defender certainly possessed some fine potential. 

Aurelio Buta

Aurelio Buta is one of the more recent players to be previously linked with a move to Celtic who appears in this article. 

Ange Postecoglou’s rebuild was well underway last summer and despite Anthony Ralston’s renaissance, a right back was still required to bolster the squad. Josip Juranovic ended up joining on a five year deal from Legia Warszawa and proved to be a quality addition however that wasn’t without talk of other right sided full backs making the move to Celtic Park. 

Buta was heavily linked to Celtic last summer with some reports stating the Portuguese had agreed a deal whilst others revealed Celtic were only in talks with Royal Antwerp over a move. However, similarly to Harold Moukoudi who we spoke of earlier, Buta elected to stay at his club and see out the last year of his contract there. 

The twenty five year old made 17 appearances for Royal Antwerp in the Belgian top flight in the 2021/22 season, registering 3 assists along the way. It wasn’t his most inspired campaign but Buta has still reportedly earned himself a move to Rangers’ Europa League heartbreakers Frankfurt for 2022/23 according to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano - a respectable move for the right back. 

Clearly, various fortunes have been experienced by those players who have been linked with Celtic in recent years. 

Ivan Toney has been one of the great success stories of the English Championship and Premier League meanwhile Harold Moukoudi and Aurelio Buta have been relatively lacklustre. 

Nonetheless, it has been enjoyable to reflect upon these players’ fortunes since their moves to Celtic didn’t come to reality. 

Thank you for reading. If you have any thoughts or opinions, leave a comment below. Also, you can follow me on Twitter @Joshmcc_05 for more Celtic and Scottish football content.