Celtic failed to meet the minimum expectation this winter, which was signing a replacement for Kyogo Furuhashi as he left for Rennes. The Hoops were linked with a variety of names including Kelechi Iheanacho, Mathias Kvistgaarden and Danny Ings. But ultimately, nobody was signed up front before the window closed.
That leaves Adam Idah as the number one option at striker. So far, he has done a good job, scoring four goals in the previous three games. Let's hope that that run continues.
Celtic do not have a ton of depth beyond Idah. They have Johnny Kenny and Daniel Cummings, both unproven options and in the case of the latter, one on his way out of the club in the summer.
David Strelec of Slovan Bratislava is another striker who Celtic were linked with in the winter but nothing materialised. Now, with the emergence of further news regarding the striker, the Hoops' failure is starting to look even worse.
Celtic transfer failure looks even worse after David Strelec news
It appears that Strelec actually had permission to leave this winter. As reported by the Daily Record, Slovan Bratislava boss Vladimir Weiss said:
"We gave him permission to transfer for a while, then it stopped and then it didn't happen. Now he will have to return with his head down to earth, knowing that he will definitely be here until the summer. I believe that his goals will help us win the title."
That makes the situation seem even worse for Celtic, to be honest. One can only wonder why they did not make a bigger push to sign Strelec, who has impressed in recent times, not only in league competition for Slovan Bratislava but at the European level as well.
He scored a couple of goals in the Champions League this season, including one against Atletico Madrid. Also, at 23 years of age, he has plenty of time to improve.
One would imagine that the potential transfer fee might have been a stumbling block to any deal happening. Rumours suggested that Slovan Bratislava were looking for a figure in the region of £8 million to part ways with Strelec.