Over and over again, as Celtic fan in these great days, you find yourself reading the media in incredulity.
When I wrote my Jozo Simunovic article on Monday I knew there would be media stories linking him with a move. His performance was so assured, that tackle so fearsome and brilliantly timed, that it was a question when, not if, they appeared.
£9 million is a lot of money. If they want to be taken seriously though Newcastle will need to start at £12 million and work their way up from there. Van Dijk is about go for £50 million. That’s the level of resale value they can reasonably expect from one of our top stars, so any offer that would tempt us, or the player, would need to be a Hell of a lot higher.
Don’t underestimate the importance here of them tempting the player; we are in a good place right now and the “lure of the Premier League” isn’t the draw a lot of people think it is. Celtic is a club that’s going place; everyone can see that. It’s the kind of club with vision and ambition that players want to be part of. Jozo already had a chance to move to Italy; he is very happy at Parkhead and a move to a club that, with all respect to them, might find themselves relegation fodder again next season isn’t one that ought to have much appeal.
The same applies to Moussa, of course, who has been linked with a move every day since he scored the 5-1 hat-trick that made him one of the most talked about players on the island. The press never lets up with this guy, in spite of his many statements about not wanting a move.
He gave another of those statements again yesterday, amidst more stories about clubs readying massive bids. All of them are wasting their time; how often must we point this out to them? With all respect to some of them, they are not “big” clubs, just rich ones and anyone who reckons they are the same thing needs to think again.
Moussa is on the verge of the greatest debut season any player could wish for; I still think we’ll see him in the cup final, but if he doesn’t make it he will consider it unfinished business.
We clearly did not unduly suffer from not having him at the weekend, but with his great habit of scoring against that lot and his general all round play you kind of wonder what the score might have been if he had. Leigh was exceptional, of course, but Moussa is a better all-rounder.
And he says he has a lot still to do at Celtic Park.
He wants to prepare himself for the Champions League next season. He says he won’t risk rushing himself for the cup final ahead of that. He has not agitated for a move nor looks likely to. This guy is an outstanding pro … and he loves it at Celtic Park.
We’ve still got business to do this season, but I already cannot wait to see how this team looks in the next one, and Moussa will be there, leading the line.