I had to laugh at Andy Walker again yesterday, jumping feet first into a debate about which he knows nothing at all; what Celtic is likely to do, or rather what Celtic won’t do, in the January transfer window.
He has about as much real information on this as he knows about particle physics. And yet, for all that, one of his comments is still worth discussing.
He claimed that Celtic might be interested in Miovski of Aberdeen, but that we would not pay “silly money” for the player. I’d like to know what sort of fee he regards as silly. Because even if Aberdeen push for a Scottish Premier League record, that might be, as I said the other day, paying a premium just so Aberdeen can face their own fans, but silly money it ain’t.
I remember a few years back, when Rodgers was first in charge, and there was talk that Celtic would not spend £9 million on Odsonne Edouard.
Now, I’m going to be honest with you, there is some doubt that we actually did that, just as there is doubt about the £7 million we’re alleged to have spent on Christopher Jullien.
But first Jullien, and then Edouard, certainly broke our transfer record which was the £6 million fee we paid for three different players; Sutton, Hartson and Lennon.
There was a long time when people wondered if we’d ever break that record and I complained bitterly about their lack of imagination all the way through that time.
Celtic will break the Edouard record at some point. We will break the Scottish transfer record, which is what Ibrox paid for Tore Andre Flo. In some ways, I am only amazed that we’ve not put that to the sword already, but we won’t do it simply because it’s there to be broken.
We’ll do it because the game has changed enough and we’re sure enough about the player that when it happens it won’t seem like a big deal at all.
The current transfer record between Scottish clubs is what we’re talking about at the moment; that sits, right now, at £4.4 million, which we paid for Scott Brown.
That was back in 2007.
Adjusted for inflation, that’s £7 million; in short, a footballer now would cost you almost double what he would have then. If Aberdeen slap a £4 million price tag on this guy, then it’s a bargain compared to what Brown would cost you in the here and now.
Sydney Van Hooijdonk would cost us £4 million and we wouldn’t know what we’d be getting for that money. The Danish striker Mathias Kvistgaarden is valued at more than £8.5 million, and that would represent a huge outlay and a massive punt.
We could have Van Hooijdonk and Miovski both for that kind of cash.
When we paid the big money for Edouard, he was coming from the PSG academy, he had already proved that he could score goals for the French at every level below their senior ranks and most importantly, he’d been with our club for a year and we were very clear on what we had and what he could do.
That was a no-brainer. To spend that on Mathias Kvistgaarden, when we have no idea how he’d do in a Celtic shirt, would be “silly money.”
Miovski plays on our doorstep. He has goals against all our clubs, and a happy knack for getting them against Ibrox. He has European goals too now, to add to the list of impressive qualities.
He’s 24, and a full international.
£4 million is absolutely not “silly money” for a guy about whom we know all this.
It’s the going rate.
We are far more likely to do transfer business like this than we are to take a mad punt. And Aberdeen is perfectly entitled to hold out for an acceptable fee considering that they are the side who found this guy and brought him here for a modest sum.
So I’m not buying it. I’m not buying the idea that it would represent “silly money” for Celtic, even if we paid a new record between Scottish clubs.
It’s chump change in the modern game, and if we’re buying a striker from abroad he’ll either cost us that anyway or he’ll be some mad project signing, cheap for sure, but with good reason.
This is the signing we’re betting the title on. It has to be right.
And beyond that, it’s the signing we’re betting on for backing up Kyogo and Oh into next season.
Miovski might not be everyone’s cup of tea, and I would far rather we went searching for the finished article in Europe and paid the going rate … but that’s likely to cost in that Edouard price range and unless we have a target in mind it would be a punt of a different sort.
I think James many within our support can tend to overlook the process involved in getting player’s to sign for the club, especially with the money involved imo?
We currently have money to spend, and the more you spend upon a player, the better quality you are expecting in return?
Agreed that another striker is required, more so with having the option of going 2 up front within the SPFL in certain games, more so than the impact the Asian Cup might bring, which I still believe will be minimal enough imo, due to the winter break?
So what is a reasonable figure to spend upon a striker, when the demands are looking for the quality kyogo and Oh can provide, and potentially being able to produce at CL level in the future?
There is no guarantees of anyone providing the success that matches the demands in the price bracket we operate within?
Any player prepared to join ourselves will be looked to see where they fit into the plans of the manager, and what sort of game time they can expect in return for signing for ourselves?
This process would apply for nearly every position within the team, where the keeper and LB position remain the easiest to look at still?
But the real question remains is as to weather the team is currently set up in a manner and style of play, that Rodgers is looking for on a longer term basis?
Not totally convinced myself at present, which in turn makes it even harder to identify the type of players that will actually fit into the plans of the manager?
Still a league title has to be won, and believe that it could be a case of seeing where we are before the window opens, and how big the gap will be over the scum, could well impact the type of striker we could be looked to attract imo?
Still believe that the lad from the sheep could well be favourite upon the box ticking of the here and now process currently, upon the bigger picture, I’m not so sure all the same?
If the price for miovski is £4m+.I,d go for it,,better than going for A N other and hoping for the best and it doesn’t work out.
Agree with the upshot here. Personally, I’ve no idea whether he’s a good buy for us, will fit our system etc. I haven’t watched him nearly enough. But, if he’s worth us buying, £4m strikes me as a reasonable fee for a player we’ve judged to be good enough for our first team. Indeed, at this stage, we shouldn’t be buying anyone for our first team valued any lower than that. It seems particularly reasonable in the winter window when players are naturally more expensive anyway (unless the host club is desperate to offload them). Fan perceptions may come from the fact that we would be buying from another Scottish club. That just strikes me as a bizarre snobbery. I doubt the feeling would be the same in relation to an equivalent player from the Croatian, Danish, Belgian, Korean, Japanese… leagues, without any evidence that any of them are demonstrably superior to our own league.
If he’s been well scouted and the manager wants him, then paying that price seems fine to me.
Miovski solves the here and now problem, experienced in the league and can get us past the Asian Cup and put genuine pressure domestically on the lads that will be away. It’ll give the club time to tie up higher quality players between now and the summer. The other thing is that fee could be taken well down with player exchanges/loans. Brendan has talked often about a bloated squad and which of the fringe players wouldn’t improve them?
Can I remind readers of Joe McBride Dixie Deans from Motherwell, Harry Hood from Clyde, Willie Wallace from Hearts some of our best strikers of 60/70s -all from very average clubs at the time
Another proven goal scorer is needed to ensure SPL is won again -a 4m spend for access to a 50 m pot seems a good deal.