All the talk surrounding Celtic in recent weeks has been about the search for a new manager after Brendan Rodgers resigned from his post, and Martin O'Neill was brought in to take interim charge of the team. It is still unclear when the club's next permanent head coach will be appointed or when this appointment will be made.
At the same time, it will be equally important for Celtic to sign the right players in the January transfer window. No matter who is appointed as the next manager, one has to recognise that the current squad is not good enough.
Celtic fans will be hoping that some proven and experienced players are brought in. But it does look like the Hoops' most concrete steps so far have been for rising youngsters, with one of them enjoying World Cup glory recently.
Morocco shocked the world recently by winning the latest edition of the U20 World Cup. Their captain has drawn the interest of Celtic.
Celtic make offer for Morocco's U20 World Cup-winning captain
As reported by Africafoot, an official from Union Touarga Sport (UTS) confirmed in a telephone interview that the club's management has received official offers from Sunderland and Celtic for the transfer of Hossam Essadak during the upcoming winter transfer window. Both clubs are planning to send representatives to Morocco in the coming weeks to observe the player more closely before finalising their approaches.
Essadak was the captain of the Moroccan team that won the U20 World Cup recently. He is a midfielder who caught the eye with his positioning, vision, and tactical maturity at the tournament.
It remains to be seen if Celtic are able to complete his signing or not. A lot of the time, fans are not particularly impressed with the club's scouting. That being said, Essadak looks like somebody with the potential to develop into a top player, as we already saw at the U20 World Cup.