Celtic were very close to signing Ivan Toney a few summers back. At that point of time, he was playing for English third division side, Peterborough United, and was coming off of a brilliant season. It was believed that the League One side wanted a transfer fee around £6 million to part ways with the striker though, a figure that the Hoops were not ready to match.
In hindsight, it has proven to be a major mistake on the part of Celtic. Toney was believed to be ready to make the Parkhead switch but would go on to join Brentford in the Championship instead, after a move failed to materialise.
There he went on to break records with his goalscoring and helped them secure promotion to the Premier League in his very first season with the club. He was pretty solid in the top flight in the 2021/22 campaign and has taken his game to the next level this time around.
According to stats from Transfermarkt, Toney has scored 11 goals and provided 3 assists in 16 appearances for Brentford this season. On the other hand, Celtic have been encouraged not to repeat their mistakes of the past and go after a £10 million-rated striker.
Celtic told to sign £10 million striker after Toney mistake
As reported by Football Insider, Frank McAvennie said:
"“The amount of chances they created, a good striker would have scored them and we would be in the playoffs. I would bring another striker in, I would like to see them have three.“We could have had Ivan Toney, we were so close to signing him. That is the kind of player that you need. If they bring someone in for £8/£10m. I think everyone still believes in Ange.“"
Celtic have Kyogo Furuhashi and Giorgos Giakoumakis in their ranks right now and both have done a wonderful job since arriving in Glasgow.
Both were found lacking in the Champions League though. Giakoumakis managed to find the back of the net on a solitary occasion, while Kyogo was goalless, despite both receiving plenty of chances in front of goal.
Thus, it might be a good idea for Celtic to sign a third striker in the future. Whether they would make that kind of an investment on the position though, remains to be seen.