Celtic need to strengthen in multiple positions across the pitch right now. One of them is centre-back. That was not expected to be the case. While Carl Starfelt did leave the club, they brought in a couple of new players there in the form of Gustaf Lagerbielke and Maik Nawrocki. They are struggling with a number of injuries in the heart of defence right now though.
Nawrocki. Cameron Carter-Vickers and Stephen Welsh, arguably the three best centre-backs that Celtic have at the moment, are all out for the foreseeable future with respective injuries. On the other hand, Yuki Kobayashi is dealing with an injury himself and it remains to be seen when he will return to action.
All things considered, Celtic only have three options at centre-back right now. Lagerbielke, Liam Scales and Tomoki Iwata. Under ideal circumstances, none of them might have been a starter.
Thus, it is no surprise that there are suggestions that Celtic could try to sign a centre-back in the last week of the summer transfer window. And it looks like they have a former Brazilian youth international in their sights.
Celtic linked with Southampton’s Brazilian defender
As reported by the Daily Record, Lyanco is among the names put to Brendan Rodgers. Southampton are keen to part ways with the Brazilian. The centre-back had looked set for a move to Besiktas but it collapsed.
Lyanco is 26 years of age and arrived at Southampton in the summer of 2021. Since then, he has played a decent amount of football but never established himself as a starter.
That will concern Celtic fans for sure. If Lyanco could not nail down a spot in the starting XI of a team that was relegated from the Premier League, will he be able to compete against Europe’s best in the Champions League? Other than Southampton, the Brazilian has played for Torino, Sau Paulo and Bologna as well.