Celtic made a blistering start to their winter transfer business by confirming deals for Alistair Johnston, Tomoki Iwata and Yuki Kobayashi even before the January window had opened. Since then, things have dragged on a bit and while the club have been heavily linked with a striker, they have not brought anyone in in that area of the pitch.
On the other hand, Giorgos Giakoumakis appears to be closing in on an exit, with Urawa Red Diamonds of the J League looking like the favourites to sign the Greek international, although others are still in the running.
Cho Gue-sung was rumoured to be Celtic’s first choice to replace Giakoumakis but now, it looks like the South Korean international is set to remain at Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. On the other hand, Carl Tengstedt, another highly rated striker that the Hoops had been linked with this month, has joined Benfica. As a result, the situation has become complicated for the club.
But it appears that they are still aiming for another addition this January. As reported by Sky Sports, Ange Postecoglou said:
"“Our planning has been to get our business done early.“We’re still active – I think there’s probably still space for one more.”"
Celtic boss gives update on next transfer signing
All signs would point towards the club’s next signing being a striker, especially if Giakoumakis did end up leaving this month. Of course, it is always possible that they could end up springing a surprise that the fans did not see coming.
Let’s see how things turn out in that regard. But after Celtic’s hopes of signing Cho have fallen apart, the club have interestingly been linked with Hibernian’s Kevin Nisbet, who has been on top form after returning from a long-term injury.
On the other hand, another interesting name doing the rounds of the Celtic rumour mill is that of Polish wonderkid, Szymon Wlodarczyk, who has earned comparisons to Robert Lewandowski in his homeland.
Thus, as we head towards the last couple of weeks of the January transfer window, things could get very interesting indeed.