Celtic have been given an indication of how much they may have to pay to land summer transfer target Gvidas Gineitis this winter. The Bhoys are desperate for a holding midfielder having failed to replace Arne Engels during the summer.
It was a baffling decision from the Hoops, who knew all summer that they would lose their most talented and influential player. Still, they figured they could get by without any sort of replacement, and while that may be true in the Premiership, it is not in Europe.
The Bhoys have lost three of their first four games in Europe this season, and they have been repeatedly exposed in midfield. Callum McGregor is the only real pivot midfielder, and he lacks real legs at this stage of his career, and Mika Baur has added a lot, but he is not a holding midfielder, and that has shown at times.
As things stand, it looks as though Celtic are in for another close title race this season, while it is touch and go if they will progress in the Europa League. If they do, it's very unlikely they will progress any further unless they strengthen the midfield, which has been shown to be unable to compete against better midfields more often than not.
One player the Bhoys did toy with signing in the summer was Torino midfielder Gineitis, but they ultimately decided he was too expensive after the Hoops were eliminated from the Champions League, missing out on important prize money.
Since then, Gineitis has struggled for form in Serie A, and he has seen his starts reduced as a result, But Celtic could still go back in for a deal. According to TUTTOmercatoWEB, Torino are likely to be willing to allow Gineitis to leave on January, and they will ask for between €8million and €10million, which works out at roughly £6.7million to £8.3million.
The question is whether Celtic will pay so much for a midfielder, and much could come down to whether they are still in the Europa League. If the Bhoys are out of Europe, they could decide to just snap up a cheap bridge midfielder to get through to the summer, when they are also likely to have a new manager.
Gineitis seems like the most obvious signing, but you would hope Celtic keep their minds open ahead of January, and that they are watching the midfielder between now and then. The Hoops need someone who can make an instant impact, and signing a player who is low on confidence in the middle of the season could be a problem.
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