Today the main transfer rumours are from Ibrox.
Yes, believe it or not the press is talking about Alfredo Morelos moving on.
Again.
There’s been no actual bid for him, no real interested parties, but the press is doing its level best to try and create some.
So he shared a story on social media about a prospective move to Crystal Palace? Big deal.
The other Ibrox story says they’ve found £4.5 million in a mattress somewhere to sign a Swedish international from Bologna. You just knew that King couldn’t live with our headlines, and the blue-chip signing of Jullien; he would have to pull a rabbit out of the hat.
But this big a rabbit? Watch this space, because something is clearly not adding up.
Theirs is the club desperately clinging on to the hope that they get Ryan Kent back on loan, a player whose greatest contribution to their campaign was somehow not getting sent off for whacking Scott Brown full in the face. Let’s just say I’m a little unconvinced.
Celtic transfer stories are going around although not many of them.
The manager spoke last night after the game and said he wants things done “sooner rather than later”, which is good to hear.
“The phone hasn’t stopped ringing,” he said.
Which could just be a reference to the way some hacks still stalk him.
Hey! Those nuisance calls are illegal, you know!
Of the stories going around, there is a beauty of a one that we’ve made an offer for a French footballer, James Lea Siliki, a midfielder whose club knocked back an £8 million bid last season from Porto. File it under “unlikely”, and especially whilst Olivier Ntcham is in the building, because that probably means we’d need to go into eight figures in order to get him, and I’m sure there are cheaper options out there, even in England.
One site has us back in for George Baldock of Sheffield United, as the quest to sign a right back goes on.
And on. And on.
Needs must on this one, and Lennon knows it. Last night’s decision to go three at the back worked reasonably well, but it’s not a tactic that we should be looking to stick with over the long haul. It will work sometimes, but not others.
Lennon knows this though, which is why the hunt goes on.
Now for a confession; yesterday, before the game kicked off, I went out and did a researched piece on the Ecuadorian Sergio Quintero.
I was quite chuffed with that piece; I was going to put it up first thing this morning.
It was full of my usual wonderful insight, such as this gem, which I can now barely handle reading without wanting to cry.
“South American footballers don’t always settle well in Britain, but that’s not as bad a situation as it used to be. I find it interesting, to say the least, that we’re currently linked with another Ecuadorian, fellow midfielder Jose Cifuentes, who says he will choose soon between Celtic and Manchester City; is this Celtic being proactive and trying to find two players from the same country, both to make it more likely that we’ll get them but also to ease their transition?”
Yeah, well, it could have been worse … I might have published it right on full time last night.
Yes, just in time for Lennon to deny the whole story a few minutes later, leaving me looking like a mug and giving a certain other blogger a reason to do more than obsess over an Irish journalist who never even bothers to respond to his constant childish digs.
One other transfer rumour – like I said, today they are as scarce as the proverbial honest man in the Trump administration – and it concerns a youth player at Linfield, who apparently the other lot are interested in as well.
His name is Charlie Allen, and I have no way of knowing whether this one is true or not, or whether he’s any good or not, but if we do sign him does that mean the Green Brigade gets to bring out the “Your grandkids will be Celtic players” banner next?
Anyway, a good result last night … although hopefully not one which led Celtic directors to look at each other in the stand and say “You know what? Lenny is doing alright with what he’s got …”
The Rumour Guy is a Celtic fan and blogger living off the grid except when he hears we’re about to sign somebody …