Celtic’s search for a striker this month has taken an unexpected twist. Cho Gue-sung of Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors was believed to be their top target, but it looks like the South Korean international is set to remain at his current club. On the other hand, Giorgos Giakoumakis is being linked with a move away from Parkhead in the very near future.
It is hard to imagine Celtic letting Giakoumakis go without bringing in a proper replacement for the Greek international though. Now, it will be interesting to see if they can do it in January.
One player that the club have been linked with in recent times is Szymon Wlodarczyk of Gornik Zabrze. The Polish striker has been dubbed as the ‘New Robert Lewandowski’ in his homeland and is extremely highly rated. And it looks like he could be on the move this January as well.
As reported by the Daily Record, Wlodarczyk said:
"“There are times in every footballer’s life when you know and understand that a change is inevitable and you need a new beginning. And it seems that will happen this month.”"
Celtic handed boost in race to sign ‘New Lewandowski’
Lewandowski is arguably the best player in the history of Polish football and thus, it is expected that every rising striker from the nation is going to be compared to him.
When it comes to Wlodarczyk, there does seem to be good reason behind the comparisons though. According to stats from Transfermarkt, he has scored 7 goals in 15 league appearances for Gornik Zabrze this season, while playing 763 minutes of football.
His record at the youth levels for Legia Warsaw was exceptional as well, even though he could not make his mark for them in the senior game. Also, it is only recently that he turned 20 years of age and he has all the physical attributes required to replace someone like Giakoumakis.
Of course, it is too early to judge how good of a striker he is but the potential is very high. It could take a transfer fee around £4 million to sign him from Gornik Zabrze though.