Today in The Scotsman, Andrew Smith has suggested that Celtic fans should be afraid of our latest signing target.
I wondered just what the logic of this was; is he suggesting that we’re looking into the signing of some Jon Flanagan type nutter?
I clicked on the link which was entitled “Celtic link with Shon Weissman should be a cause for concern for fans” and what did I find? A sub-headline which suggests that this arrival would – not could, but would – mean “a very high profile exit.”
Isn’t it nice of Celtic to discuss their transfer policy with this geezer before letting the rest of us in on it? I mean, that’s not the statement of someone who doesn’t know specifics, right?
First up, who is Shon Weissman?
He’s a striker who plays in Austria at the moment, but he’s Israeli and has spent most of his career in his home nation. Since signing for Wolfsberger at the start of last season, he has scored 29 in 30 games. He could be available for as little as £3 million.
This is his logic, right here:
“Considering it was only in January that they parted with almost £4m to acquire the 21-year-old Klimala from his native Poland, there is no prospect of them firming up their interest in Weissman, who has four caps for his country, unless Edouard is prised away.”
So Smith, of course, has no direct information on this … just speculation.
There are two other strikers at Celtic Park, of course, Griffiths and Bayo.
The possibility that may instead sell one of those two – and Bayo seems a popular choice in the Departure Sweepstakes – clearly hasn’t entered Smith’s head for one minute.
Instead, he simply assumes it’ll be Edouard.
When we signed Bayo in the first place, people like this assumed we’d not be taking Edouard on a permanent deal. When we signed Klimala that was supposed to be it for Griffiths. Lennon has made it clear that now we’re playing two up front, and that necessitates having four strikers in the squad.
It’s more firepower than we’d otherwise need, but next season’s going to be a long one and so I reckon we’re going to need them.
Smith and others in the media will continue making mischief of course, but this really is speculative nonsense that belongs on the blogs instead of in a national newspaper. The Scotsman has gotten more and more involved with this type of business model in recent years … they were certainly never credible as a national newspaper.
They won’t ever be writing this kind of crap.
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