Manager Brendan Rodgers has set lofty goals for his side ever since finishing last in the so-called “group of death” in last season’s Champions League.
But, it’s hard to see anything but a repeat happening given what took place on transfer deadline day in 2017.
With Celtic being paired up with PSG, Bayern Munich and Anderlecht, things aren’t going to be easy on the biggest stage this season. Even with the full knowledge of the trails ahead and the stated goal of the knockout rounds, Celtic failed to make a move that really mattered while it had the chance.
Deadline day came and went and Celtic had only managed to secure the long-rumored season-long loan of young French star Odsonne Edouard from PSG ironically. It’s a nice move, as he provides some good cover and competition up front at the striker position.
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But, that was just one hole that needed to be filled and Celtic failed to get the most glaring of weaknesses taken care of — central defense.
Yes, when Jozo Simunovic and Dedryk Boyata are both healthy they form a formidable duo in the center of defense. But, Simunovic’s knee continues to act up and Boyata suffered a nasty knee injury of his own and who knows how long it will really take him to get back in form.
Celtic have seen plenty of both Nir Bitton and Kristoff Ajer to know they are barely ready to handle the rigors of the Scottish Premiership (and those rigors aren’t that tough), let alone the rigors of the Champions League.
That didn’t stop Celtic from going out and doing exactly nothing to shore up central defense in the final week of the transfer window. Yes, they had a bid for Rivaldo Coetzee in.. only to see a medical revealing a broken foot and alleged degenerative condition stopped that from happening.
Ajax Cape Town decided that was troll-worthy and also dug deep in to the issue that everyone seems to know — Celtic needed a defender badly.
Glasgow Celtic fans right now 👇🏾 pic.twitter.com/Pecgiof5H1
— Cape Town Spurs FC (@CapeTownSpursFC) August 31, 2017
There apparently was a frantic move for Croatian defender Filip Benković of Dinamo Zagreb, but those rumors came to absolutely nothing in the end as well.
It should be noted that Rodgers tried hard to secure a few moves for defenders as the transfer deadline . But, there’s a difference between trying and doing and Celtic failed at the one position it needed the most.
We all love seeing Patrick Roberts return to the Hoops, and Edouard is brimming with promise, but the reality is Celtic can’t outscore opponents on the European stage. They needed some help in defense and got none of it.
It is hard not to see this transfer window as a major failure, especially late on in the process.
Next: Celtic could secure more than just a loan for PSG starlet
Should the Bhoys bow out of the Champions League in last place again, one could easily point to the failures on deadline day as at least part of the cause.