We are past the halfway point of the January transfer window. After what we have seen from the club in recent times, many fans would have set their expectations low coming into it. But even they probably would have expected to see more than one loan signing by this time, considering how bad Celtic have been this season.
Two wins in eight games saw Wilfried Nancy being shown the exit door. Martin O’Neill has been brought back in until the end of the season, with hopes that he can guide the Hoops to some silverware before a long-term appointment is made in the summer.
That is well and good. The club need to do a better job of backing O’Neill in the transfer market though.
The club need to strengthen in several positions across the pitch this month. One of them is striker. Was O’Neill’s presence at a game featuring a Celtic-linked striker a sign of where things could be headed over the next couple of weeks?
Martin O’Neill spotted at game of Celtic-linked striker
As reported by the Daily Record, O’Neill was spotted in the stands at Fir Park as Tawanda Maswanhise helped guide Motherwell into the next round of the Scottish Cup. The Zimbabwean international has been one of the top players in Scotland this season and may well have caught the eye of the Celtic manager.
Maswanhise is a versatile player who can play in a variety of positions. This season, he has featured 10 times as a centre-forward. And in those games, he has scored 8 goals and provided an assist.
So, it is pretty clear that he is capable of producing the goods as a striker. O’Neill’s presence at the game is sure to get some headlines, as Celtic have been linked with Maswanhise in recent weeks.
Of course, there are plenty of other strikers who seem to be on their radar. It is believed that they have made a bid for Michael Noonan over the past 24 hours but he looks more likely to end up in Germany. On the other hand, other forwards like David Datro Fofana, Mohamed Bamba, Andrej Ilic, Franko Kovacevic, and a few others are rumoured to be on the Hoops’ radar as well.
The pace at which they are doing their business is a cause for concern though. They have a vital game against Hearts coming up, and will hopefully have a new striker or two in place before that.