Is Brendan Rodgers Already Lowering January Transfer Window Expectations?
As Celtic enjoy some sun, warm weather and get a chance to recharge the batteries after an incredible start to the 2016-17 season, many expected things to heat up on the transfer market as well.
That expectation didn’t come out of thin air either, it was set by manager Brendan Rodgers himself. He spoke on the issue as early as October, using words like “vital” and “important” when speaking on what needs to happen in the January transfer window for the Bhoys.
"“It’s an important window for Celtic, with one eye on potential Champions League qualifiers in the summer. If you can get them in then, before going on to finish your job by winning the league, it can really help. It’s the reverse of England. It’s a vitally important window for us if you have ideas of going into European competitions so early in the summer. It gives a new player a bedding in process before hopefully kicking on.”"
After all, the goal going forward with any move is to become ready for a quick summer turnaround towards Champions League qualification. Couple that with summer World Cup qualifiers around the world, and you can see why Rodgers believed the January window to be vital for the club.
Compare those words with the actions of Celtic to date and it seems as if January isn’t quite playing out the way the manager wanted.
The club has made one signing, Kouassi Eboue from Krasnodar, and even that signing isn’t official yet. Celtic are still waiting on a work permit to go through, which isn’t a guarantee given Eboue hasn’t been officially capped by the Ivory Coast national team just yet.
Outside of that, Celtic have been linked with some players south of the border in England. All of those players, as we highlighted yesterday, have moved to other places and Celtic’s name being linked seemed to be more wishful thinking than reality.
While talking about Eboue’s signing with the club on Monday, Rodgers appeared to soften his stance on the transfer window he once called vital and important.
Instead, this is what Rodgers was quoted as saying on Monday, via The Express:
“We have a few targets. We’d like to think we could get a few in to enhance the team. But if we don’t get anyone in January then there is no drama.”
What is one to make of this statement, buried at the bottom of said Express article as it were?
There’s only one thing to really take from this, and that is Celtic are finding moves that would change the course of this club for its short-term and long-term future challenging at best.
Links to potential moves for Everton midfielder James McCarthy have dried up. So have willing partners in the sellers market, or so it seems.
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This isn’t to say Rodgers is doing anything wrong, in fact, it appears he is being prudent within the market that is there for international prospects. If the talent level isn’t there, buying just to buy at key positions doesn’t make sense.
Those types of moves are what got Celtic in trouble behind the scenes and on the pitch before. Stefan Šćepović (£2.8 million), Amido Baldé (£1.8 million) and Teemu Pukki (£2.4 million) anyone?
Yes, those were summer signings, but they were also signings made from need that flat out didn’t work. In total, those moves cost Celtic £7 million. Meanwhile Baldé’s contract was terminated just two years later and Celtic were out the money, Pukki was a net loss of around £2 million and Šćepović has seen loans to Getafe for each of the past two years without a dime coming in for a transfer out of the club.
Rodgers has more money than any manager has had in some time though, so he could spend more if he wanted to in transfer fees. Instead, it appears Rodgers is targeting players with the profile that makes the most sense for Celtic.
Namely, it appears he is largely targeting young players that have a larger future on the world football stage. Are those players readily available in the January transfer window? It seems as if that isn’t the case right now.
So, the expected big splash from Rodgers appears to be more of a whimper at this point. Let’s see if some of those moves Rodgers has talked about pan out, but for now it appears Rodgers is indeed preparing Hoops supporters for a less-than-expected January on the transfer market.