It has been revealed that Celtic made a failed attempt to sign the winger who had 46 goal contributions last season and was available for free.
It is no secret that Celtic are in need of a right winger. They were light in the area anyway and the long-term injury to James Forrest has meant that their lack of options in the position has been absolutely exposed over the past few months.
As a result, Neil Lennon has been left scrambling for options to fill the void. At times Ryan Christie has featured there while at others Jeremie Frimpong has been been the man handed the job. It is clear though that this can’t go on.
While Forrest might be back in action in the near future, the Hoops do need to sign someone not just as back-up but to compete for the spot. You have to remember, the 29-year-old was heavily criticised for his performances this season before going down with injury.
One man who might have been an exceptional signing is Watford’s new right winger, Philip Zinckernagel. As reported by the Daily Record, the Danish star revealed that Celtic were one of the clubs interested in snapping him up on a free transfer before he completed his move to the Championship side:
"“I could have chosen to go to clubs where I would have earned more money. I preferred the sporting challenge to money. Not that it’s a bad package I’ve got at Watford and it’s a five-and-a-half-year contract.“I had offers from clubs in Turkey, the Netherlands, Schalke in Germany, France, Saudi Arabia and a lot in Eastern Europe. And additionally, Celtic were also involved.“I had to make a decision before Brexit, and I got the best feeling at Watford.”"
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Zinckernagel’s stats from last season are absolutely staggering. In 31 appearances for his former side Bodø/Glimt, he scored 22 goals while provided 24 assists as well. That is 46 goal contributions in total, or 1.48 every game!
And those are just not contributions in the Norwegian league. He did score 3 goals in 3 Europa League qualifying games as well.
It was certainly a peak season for the 26-year-old though. Last season he had recorded a much more modest 6 goals and 10 assists in 31 appearances. Still great numbers but nothing close to the superhuman ones from last season.
It will be interesting to see how he does for Watford. The English second division is much more tougher than what he is used to and will be true test for the winger. If he does end up performing though, Celtic will be left kicking themselves. Especially since they could have gotten him for absolutely nothing.