Brendan Rodgers is on the verge of his next Celtic signing as West Brom right back Cristian Gamboa arrives in Glasgow for a medical this afternoon.
There are not expected to be any difficulties getting deal over the line; no family issues or unexpected financial problems raise their heads at Celtic Park.
The fee is estimated to be around £1 million.
So what can we expect from this guy? Well, he’s described as being a right back with the ability to get forward with pace. That’s what you expect from a Brendan Rodgers player; the emphasis here, over and over again, has been that he wants speed in this team. It’s why James Forrest was given a new deal and why Janko found himself in the squad for the Champions League games.
Ironically, of course, it was those games that clarified Rodgers’ thinking on the position and sent him on the lookout for another option in the first place. Suggestions that our first choice for this slot was Callum Paterson at Hearts look now to have been wide of the mark; Paterson is definitely a good player, but the days of us plucking footballers from the SPL look as if they are well and truly over. This is another raid on England’s top flight.
Rodgers is clearly a man with a plan, and as fast attacking football seems to be the basis of it there will be few complaints from our supporters. For one reason or another Gamboa’s move to England didn’t work out; that happens sometimes. West Brom aren’t exactly known for sexy football, so perhaps he simply didn’t fit into the current manager’s philosophy. With the freedom to develop at Celtic Park – he’s only 26 – we’ll be getting the best of his career.
I can’t even pretend to know anything about this guy, except for what I can read online, but he’s an experienced international who, it seems, with a lot of technical ability. Of course, what we want to see, more than anything, is quality defending … but he’s got more experience than young Janko and on the face of it looks like a good addition to the squad.
In the end, you have to just put your faith in the manager … and on that one I have no doubts at all. His signings so far have been first rate.
Welcome, Cristian, to the best club in the world.
You’re gonna love it here.
In Brendan We Trust.
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