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Celtic’s Search For A Striker Will Involve Risk. But Two Candidates Are Known Enough.

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It is a risk whenever a club buys a player. Any player. But especially a striker, because with a striker there really is no way to hide it if you’ve bought the wrong sort of footballer. You get strikers who can score regularly … except when it matters.

You get strikers who don’t score at all, and yet somehow make a living in the game advertising themselves as forwards. You get forwards who do score, and sometimes when it matters, who do not contribute to the team. Always, it is obvious what their flaws are.

Celtic will have done a lot of scouting up until now. I know that much. There have been too many mistakes in the past when it has come to forwards, and we need to be sure this time, or as sure as we can be anyway. I know Kvistgaarden has been scouted; I do not know what the club sees there because his scoring record is not terribly impressive.

His club seems to think they will get a lot of money for him, more than we should be paying for what would essentially be a punt. If he’s really a target then there are two players known to us who would certainly represent better value for money; Adam Idah and Bojan Miovski. These guys might cost us; neither will cost what Kvistgaarden will.

I see a lot of similarities between Miovski and Idah. Both have good first touch, an eye for goal and the physicality to turn a defender. The reason we were looking at the big Aberdeen striker in the first place is that he had those qualities which Rodgers values.

I suspect these will amongst the top targets, because the manager is well aware of what both of them can do and if it’s a choice between one of them and some punt from the Mark Lawwell hit-list that doesn’t seem like a particularly difficult one to make. Lawwell’s entire list should be in the bin and it’s known that Kvistgaarden was a name on it.

I am torn between Idah and Miovski. But I think Idah edges it. He has all the qualities we require in a good forward and I think he will only get better the longer he is with us. I said that I thought he was the difference that won us the title, not just in the goals but in everything he offered us up front, not to mention that he took the pressure off Kyogo.

Miovski is excellent though. He can definitely do us a job. He was getting plenty of goals in perhaps the worst Aberdeen team I’ve seen in years, and that is no small thing. He looked a quality player, especially in the early part of the campaign, which is when the first real stories about him and Celtic emerged. They died down as we hit January, when Aberdeen made it clear that they would want serious money in order to part with him.

Would they still want serious money? Probably, but what does that mean?

Celtic are in a better position in relation to these two players than we look, and we’re in that position because we like them both. They face a similar problem; what Celtic are willing to pay and what they are able to get elsewhere.

There is no point in Aberdeen sticking £2 million or whatever on top of what Celtic think Miovski is worth if we can simply go and buy Adam Idah. Likewise, there is no point in Norwich demanding too much for him when we can simply tell them we’ll start talks with Aberdeen.

There will be a fee which we think is suitable and are willing to pay. £5 million for either of them is good business. £6 million is doable and based on their age and their profile we might be willing to go there. At £7 million, you wonder if there are better options.

We’ll find out soon enough. Neither player has interest from the kinds of clubs which should be trumping Celtic, and I’m not sure any of them can afford a big fee either. A lot will come down to when we make our move … we should be aiming to do it soon.

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14 comments

  • JimBhoy says:

    Buy Idah and Miovski, move on Oh, Johnston, haksabanovic and Vata, not good enough. 3 top strikers at a club the size of Celtic is not too much.

    Hold onto O’Riley for another season, his value will not decrease as he gets more CL experience.

    3 or 4 from last season’s purchases will go too.

  • Paul says:

    We should be buying them both!

  • JMF says:

    Offer Aberdeen a player or two as part of the deal – we have a few to spare

  • Bunter says:

    Definitely get both. But if we have to choose one, it’s got to be Adam. He’s a young Irishman, he knows our Irish heritage and history, he’s talented and can develop further under Brendan. But go for both!

    • Frozen Celt says:

      I agree. Idah is Irish. And he a bit younger than Bojan (1.5 year). I think Idah has more growth potential and that will appeal to the folks running our club who want to buy players, develop them, and sell them for profit.

  • Joe mcaleer says:

    Miovski is a natural striker. We should sign him.

  • Big Den says:

    As long as there’s a lawwell in the building, I’m wary of any of the aforementioned players coming in full time. I’d take Idah over Miovski but only just. I just hope Brendan Rogers is given free reign to build the side he wants but we’ve seen the same movie too many times. Peter lawwell should never have been brought back in any capacity at Celtic. I’m glad they saw fit to ditch Junior as that little episode was a disaster.

  • Ecky says:

    The Don’s want Scales, I say let them have him for Miovsci. If that’s how it’s spelt.

  • Ecky says:

    Scale for Miovskie is a good swap.

  • Mark B says:

    I would buy both Miovski and Idah. Kyogo and those two with Oh sold is our squad. And definitely keep scales why you lose a left sided central defender who played more than anyone at CB. They are very rare. Yes of course we buy a new excellent CB. But scales as back up is very able. Maybe also buy another back up as Welsh Lagerbielke won’t make it. Now rock I may make it

    • Scott Campbell says:

      It’s tough to keep 2 quality strikers happy in a sqaud, as seen with Giakoumakis, when we only play with 1 up top. Assuming Kyogo starts the majority of games and we bought Idah and Miovski, that’s between 10-12 million quid spent. if it could be worked out, it would be great, but i feel it will be one or the other. Or someone else completely.

  • Chris says:

    It would be good to buy both,however unless we change to a 4-4-2 formation,I can’t see it happening

  • Paul says:

    Buy Miovski, offer them a cash plus a player deal.

    We have enough spare players that are better than members of their squad but not good enough for us. This will help strengthen Aberdeen which will impact on our main rivals more than it will us.
    Same with loans. I would also look to be loaning out more of our players to other SPFL clubs to add a bit more depth to them and add more competition for second place.

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