Brendan Rodgers talked to the media after the Inter Milan friendly at the weekend, and when they asked him about more signings he said he wants at least one more player in before the window closes. That’s good news for us, as I suspect he’s earned enough goodwill in the boardroom to be able to get the guys he wants now.
It’s also good news for the media as they can speculate until the cows come home about who that signing is likely to be.
There’s a name doing the rounds right now though, one that’s so big it almost sounds insane, but in point of fact it’s not.
So is it true, then?
Could we actually sign Bastian Schweinsteiger?
It sounds ridiculous, on the surface of it.
Yet I’m convinced this could happen.
He went to Manchester United for £6 million in 2015, but he has barely featured in their team. Mourinho has made it clear the player has no future at Old Trafford, which is a tremendous shame considering how much he’s given to football over the years. A truly world class performer when at the top of his game, he is one of the iconic figures of the past 10 years … but that doesn’t mean that this deal is off the scale and can’t happen.
When you consider some of the signings we’ve made over the years – including Roy Keane, Juninho, Thomas Gravesen and the loanees like Craig Bellamy and Robbier Keane it isn’t impossible. We’ve just brought Scott Sinclair and Kolo Toure to Parkhead. This is the kind of deal that would be greatly appealing to Brendan and the board, filling the crucial holding midfielder role which many have identified as a key one for us, and probably for very little transfer outlay.
Wages would be high, but perhaps not as high as some think.
The player knows he will be able to get another club, and many of them, in England and beyond, can pay him a lot more than we can but I suspect Brendan could do a good selling job on the big vision thing and make the player consider the move on a greatly reduced salary.
Schweinsteiger had options when he left Germany; he chose United because of the size of the club and the opportunity to win things.
That’s what matters to a player like this, it’s not about the money. He would be lavishly compensated for coming to Celtic Park, but what might be more appealling is the chance to win things and play in front of the Parkhead faithful.
He gets that, I have no doubt of it.
A lot of Europe’s top player do.
None of this is to say that this is a done deal; in fact, there’s one major caveat. We’d need to get past the Israeli’s to stand a chance of pulling this off. But if we manage it, and get to the Groups, and get our hands on all the money that goes with it, along with the prestige of being able to compete against the biggest clubs on the continent there is no reason this can’t come off.
It would be ballsy and ambitious, but that’s where we are right now as a club.
We’re at that level again, a level where we can seriously entertain an idea like this and try to make it happen. It’s been a long time since we had this kind of moxie … if he’s going to be available we should, at the very least, be in the fight and trying to bring it off.
In Brendan We Trust.
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