Celtic Doing The Carter Vickers Deal Now Would Park The Tanks On The Enemy’s Lawn.

Rumours about that Celtic have opened talks with Spurs with a view to tying up the excellent Cameron Carter Vickers before the campaign ends. It would not only be a smart piece of transfer business but it would have the full approval of the fans.

It’s expensive. It’s £6 million.

That the club is willing to spend it a show of force. It’s a demonstration of strength in the transfer market at a time when Ibrox is arguing with itself. But it’s also more; it’s a measure of confidence that the money will be there.

Which of course it will be if we’ve won this league and we’re in the Champions League Groups in the next campaign. So in some ways this is our way of telling the world that whatever Ange might say in public – he’s doing what he has to – the club reckons it’s done.

Carter Vickers is, to my mind, the biggest of the two players we have on loan.

I like Jota and if we sign both of them then great, but if we can only have one of them it would be the big American centre back who I think has been a fantastic signing.

It was, in fact, the deal to secure his signature which convinced me, at the last knockings, that the summer window had been an unqualified success. Had we not brought in a defender we’d have been in real trouble … but they got this deal done right at the end and there is no doubt that it’s been one of the best things we’ve done.

Doing the deal before the season ends would be a massive statement of intent.

It would be a hugely destabilising move against the club across the city; when I said earlier I didn’t feel that we had struck a proper blow against them for a while I meant it.

This would do it. It would show them what they could have done if they had access to the money.

And it will scare them into wondering what we might do next.

It is the signing equivalent of parking the tanks right on the enemy’s lawn. That’s as good a reason for doing it as any, except the reason we are trying to; he’s worth every penny.