Celtic Should Be Monitoring The Free Transfer Market Carefully. This May Be A Good Year.

At this moment in time, with the transfer window having been open for four days, we have yet to get a deal over the line. I am not complaining. Far from it. There is no rush here, unlike across the city, where they are flapping and trying desperately to show signs of life to their fans. We can afford to be a little more careful and proceed with more calm.

Late last week, I wrote a piece about how we had a big decision to make in terms of what we were willing to spend on Bernardo and Idah if we decided to try. The club has decided to negotiate the fee for the Portuguese, and I applaud that heartily. It is smart. We don’t have a bottomless pit of funds and we aren’t going to act like we do.

The club will spend serious money in this window. It will have to. It owes us that, and it certainly owes the manager that. But we don’t need to spend it needlessly or foolishly, and the free transfer market might be one worth exploring this year.

The news this morning that Spurs have released two players on a free with whom we were once linked – Japhet Tanganga and Ryan Sessegnon, both in their mid 20’s, England under 21 internationals – is only part of why this seems like a better idea than it has in a long time. Both of the guys would be interesting options, but they won’t be the only players let go on frees over the next few weeks.

The thing is, the financial sustainability regulations – about which I’ll be doing another piece later on – have cut the budgets at most clubs in the English top flight. Young players who might otherwise have been offered contract extensions just to allow the clubs to sell them are being cut loose.

Players who are near the end of their deals and who have no re-sale value are also being allowed to go, which means players in the 20’s group and players over 30 too.

So clubs are cutting their squads, and allowing players to go whenever, and however, they can move them on. There is no way we should not be keeping an eye on this thing, and these sorts of players would enhance the squad. I like Sessegnon in particular; he is more than capable of playing as our left back. I know less about Tanganga, but I do remember the link to him.

These guys will have options inside England, and perhaps for big money. But I find it difficult to believe that they couldn’t be sold on a move to Celtic, even if it’s only for two or three seasons before we sell them back to the EPL.

We will certainly give them a Hell of a platform to play on in the meantime. Cameron Carter Vickers, who will know them both, could be our salesman on that front.

But even if not them, there might be other players down there who tick the boxes and might be the sort Rodgers knows could do a job, and that’s going to be the critical thing of course.

Through all of it, Rodgers has to make the call. I have little doubt he’ll be aware of what the lay of the land down south is. As I said yesterday, I will not be surprised by anything about this window. The stage is set for one heck of a summer.