Bradshaw Bid Expected By Bhoys

Celtic are expected to make a bid for Walsall striker Tom Bradshaw during the current transfer window as the club has been scouting the player in recent weeks and reportedly see the 23-year-old as a player who could make an immediate impact in the Scottish Premiership.

Bradshaw, a former Wales under-21 international, has scored 32 goals for the Saddlers in the last two seasons after signing for the League One side from Shrewsbury in the summer of 2014.

Walsall have already rejected one bid from a Championship club in England, which they descried as a ‘dismissive bid’ that was a long way short of their evaluation of the player’s fee.

If Ronny Deila is keen for the English-born striker to travel to Scotland, Celtic could be in a bidding battle with a number of Championship clubs, including Wolves, Birmingham, Huddersfield and Reading – who are all thought to be tracking the player. It is believed that it get take close to £500,000 for Walsall to let go of their man during this transfer window.

At the time of writing, Celtic are 1-66 in the betting odds to win the Scottish Premiership this season but plans will already be being made by Ronny Deila with next season in mind.

It is likely that Sevco will be in the top flight – especially if those pushing league reconstruction get their way – and the Bhoys will want to improve on their miserable run in Europe.

The Champions League campaign did not last long for Celtic as they were beaten by Swedish champions Malmo before the group stage of the tournament, while, in the Europa League, they finished bottom of Group A with just three points as they failed to win any of their six matches in the competition.

Deila’s task, if he remains at Celtic, will be for a better European campaign next season or his future could be in doubt.

He has highlighted that he needs an additional striker in his squad and Bradshaw could be in the man to fill that void.

With 26 goals in all competition to his name this season, Leigh Griffiths is the top scorer at Celtic and in Scotland.

He has, though, not had much support from the rest of the strikers in the squad.

Deila has just let  Anthony Stokes go out on loan to Hibernian with the view that he will be bringing in a new face before the window shuts.

Celtic have also been linked with a move for their former star Aiden McGeady, who is currently playing his football for Everton.

However, that now looks unlikely as the Merseyside club are keen to retain the services of their Irish winger.

McGeady left Celtic in 2010 in a deal worth £9.5 million for him to join Russian side Spartak Moscow. After spending four years in Russia, he was a keen for a move back to the UK and opted to sign for Everton.

The 29-year-old has not played in the Premier League for the Toffees so far this season. He has dropped down the pecking order of Roberto Martinez’s starting XI, so if the player did want to engineer a move away from Goodison Park, Celtic would still be interested.

(This post has been edited by James Forrest.)