John Hartson urges Celtic to sign £5 million striker

John Hartson knows Scottish football very well. He is also pretty forthright in his views and opinions. Right now, he appears to have some important messages for the Celtic board about what the squad needs. And it remains to be seen whether the club will be able to provide Brendan Rodgers with that in the summer.

Hartson was a big part of the Celtic's success under the management of Martin O’Neill. Having played alongside Chris Sutton and Henrik Larsson for the club, he knows a good striker when he sees one. The Welshman also scored plenty of goals himself.

Hartson seems to be pretty clear that the Celtic board needs to fully back Rodgers in this summer’s transfer window. The manager himself has regularly talked about how his squad needs more quality players to be brought in.

That need wasn’t addressed well in either of the past two transfer windows. The Hoops simply do not have the quality and depth that they require. A fact that’s made the title race a lot closer than it should have been and also contributed to a tough and ultimately disappointing set of results in the Champions League earlier this season.

Hartson urges Celtic to sign £5 million striker

Hartson has clearly stated what he thinks the board needs to do. As reported by The Scottish Sun, the Welshman said:

"It’s important the Celtic board backs Brendan this summer — and I think they will.

“They all saw the disappointing Champions League campaign.

“And I think they’ll now listen to the fact he was talking about bringing in real quality in January."

The club will also need to replace strongly when top players move on. Hartson said regarding the matter:

"And sometimes, when it’s a big bid like £20million for Kieran Tierney or £25million for Jota it’s an extreme offer.

“Celtic have no option then, they can’t turn those types of offers away.

“But Brendan needs to add — and I think he will get the money this time.

“There will be money there if they can go and win the league with the Champions League funds available."

Hartson also appears to have a specific signing in mind. He wants the club to sign Adam Idah permanently from Norwich City when his loan deal comes to an end. The former Celtic forward said:

"He’s scored big, important goals for Celtic this season.

“When he first came in you got the feeling some of the fans were a bit underwhelmed.

“They looked at him playing for Norwich, maybe not getting a game every week, and it was a loan signing.

“But he has done well. He’s big and powerful, he can run in behind and he knows how to finish.

“If Celtic can get him for around the £4m-£5m mark, it would be a great bit of business. He could be a great signing."

You won’t find too many fans disagreeing with Hartson’s views. The club will need to shell out a bit more than usual this summer to get the level of quality the squad needs. Bargains with the odd project signing and perhaps loan deals all have their place. But those have to be alongside signings who are ready to come in and make an impact from the get-go.

Fans would also be happy to see Idah signed permanently if the right deal can be agreed. And Celtic might need to sign another striker on top of that, with the future of Oh Hyeon-gyu in doubt and his contributions less than impressive.