Celtic Must Pull Out the Stops in the Transfer Market to Continue Their Run of Dominance
With a fresh season underway in Scotland, Rangers are demonstrating a strong desire to catch their bitter rivals.
Alfredo Morelos has one foot out the door, but it's not all bad news for the Gers as Steven Gerrard has added £6m worth of firepower in Kemar Roofe and Cedric Itten.
On the other hand, Celtic are dealing with their own potential striker conundrum should star man Odsonne Edouard be tempted away from the club this summer.
It's no secret the Hoops are looking to bolster their options up front, though whether that is to potentially replace the prolific Edouard remains to be seen. But who are Celtic being heavily linked with? A 33-year-old Steven Fletcher. Really?
Ten years ago Celtic fans would have been over the moon with such speculation. His spell with Hibernian had him suspiciously linked with the mighty Real Madrid after all. But now? Nah, not really.
West Ham's Albian Ajeti is also in talks over a loan move to Parkhead following a disastrous spell in the Premier League. It's a more adventurous prospect for sure, but the common denominator from both options is that they'd cost mere pennies.
We've seen Mohamed Elyounoussi come in and do a job after failing to impress in England's top-flight. The Norwegian winger penned a season-long loan extension which is great news for the Hoops faithful, but an unwillingness to match his asking price is an unwanted theme that has plagued Celtic's recent transfer history.
Look no further than the John McGinn transfer saga, when chief executive Peter Lawwell refused to fork out the extra few hundred grand to land one of the greatest talents to come out of Scotland in decades. The stinging sensation still hasn't subsided from that one, especially due to the fact that Stuart Armstrong was sold for £7m weeks prior. McGinn was snapped up by Aston Villa for £3m and, yeah, the rest is history.
Celtic's pursuit of Peterborough's Ivan Toney ended in similar fashion. An embarrassingly low bid was laughed off by the Posh's hierarchy before the Hoops ended their pursuit of the promising forward.
£35m was made from the sales of Victor Wanyama, Virgil van Dijk and Fraser Forster alone. Then came the departures of Kieran Tierney and Moussa Dembele, who brought in another £45m. Those are fairly substantial numbers for the Scottish Premiership side, yet Lawwell has shown a frustrating amount of haste when reinvesting those millions.
The £18m spent on both Christopher Julien and Edouard has been encouraging, and with the recent signing of goalkeeper Vasilios Barkas, Celtic look to be on the right track.
It has Celtic fans scratching their heads at the recent link with free agent Fletcher, especially considering the factory line philosophy that the board have committed to over the years. There's hardly any ambition in signing an injury plagued 33-year-old.
On the contrary, Rangers have responded with guile to the impending departure of their star forward Morelos. There were no drawn out bidding wars, just two decent signings, both of whom are proven goalscorers.
While Fletcher has enjoyed a productive final season with Championship outfit Sheffield Wednesday, there's still no hiding from the questionable nature of his pursuit. It's a fairly low risk option that doesn't resonate with the ambitious fan base.
Celtic have dominated Scottish football for what feels like forever. The next objective has to be to progress into the latter stages of European competition. It's certainly what the fans want. In order to do so, there has to be a continued element of risk with regards to the transfer policy.
We've seen what transpired when Celtic splashed out on Edouard. The man has achieved God-like status in Glasgow, with his arrival and incredulous rise to fame the perfect example of what can happen if Celtic approach the transfer market with confidence.
It's time for Celtic to stop resting on their laurels and invest in the team. Get the cheque book out, Lawwell.