So, today some genuine, actual, transfer rumours! Hallelujah!
Last night, the manager said we were just about over the line with a deal.
Amazingly, I got up this morning to find a number of possibilities.
Let’s take the most ridiculous one first; Danny Simpson.
Now, if we wanted to sign a 32 year old right back with title winning experience there was a guy we could already have offered a deal to; you might have heard of him. His name is Lustig, and according to some reports yesterday he’s also got a big future as a football scout.
His credentials are absolutely perfect and he played more games last season.
Had we wanted a right back with combat experience, especially in the field of women beating, we could have had Jon Flanagan last season, but chose not to bother. I trust our club will see sense and put this particular idea in the bin where it belongs.
On another note, my missus says she’d fight him for charity if the organisers didn’t mind it lasting just one round.
Now we’ve got that out the way, there really are two more realistic ones it could be, starting with the Ecuadorian midfielder Jose Cifuentes.
He’s almost ready to make up his mind between our club and Manchester City; needless to say it would be a huge coup if we could pull this one off because he is highly rated and can play in a number of midfield roles.
We have two advantages here; first is that work permit regulations favour Scotland over England, where the criteria for getting one is much higher. The second advantage is that City have made it clear that they intend to buy him and then loan him out straight away, first because of that work permit problem but second because that’s what City does.
He will have the option of going out to Girona, their Spanish feeder club or whatever they are calling it these days, and whilst that might have some appeal to him I wonder if he doesn’t think being part of a club he can call his own, and chasing trophies and titles might not be a better bet.
Actually, the relationship with City is sufficiently good that it’s not outside the realms of possibility that he might well sign for them and move on loan to us anyway.
A decision is said to be imminent on this one, so we watch and we wait.
More likely, by far, is the deal to bring Hatem Abd Elhamed to Parkhead looks just about over the line.
He is a central defender who can also play at right back … so in some ways he gives us cover for both positions, and that’s good although I don’t think I’m alone in having wanted to see a specialist signed for the right back slot … someone who’s sole position is there.
Don’t rule that out for later in the window, but for the moment “needs must” and this one will do.
The big Arab-Israeli is a good footballer with plenty of experience; he will fit in nicely with the squad and give us some flexibility and competition for places.
It’s good to have proper transfer stories to talk about today; the last few days have been all about rumours involving Kieran Tierney – as James has pointed out, the media is obsessed with trying to unsettle the player – and nobody wants to read them over and over again.
Deals being done, that’s what fans want to see. Lennon’s shopping so far has cost us £10 million, but there’s more to come.
Much more, if what he says is right.
It is not inconceivable that the Ecuadorian and the Israeli could be signed in time for fitting into the squad as “wild card” players before the deadline passes.
That would be very good business.
On a slightly less fun note, left back prospect Romain Perraud has slipped through our fingers as the Tierney saga rolls on, by signing for another French club.
That’s cool, though, as most of us would rather have Kieran at Celtic Park anyway.
But on a much brighter note, another of our alleged French targets – Lys Mousset, the striker from Bournemouth – looks as if he’s headed for another EPL destination. Say a prayer of thanks for that because he has hardly scored a goal in two years and would have been a colossal waste of money had we pushed on with that idea.
The Rumour Guy is a Celtic fan and blogger who’s sure his missus could take any woman beater in a square go …