It’s set to be a busy last coupe of weeks of the January window for the Hoops as January enters its busy period.
Brendan Rodgers has kicked off his January recruitment with Nicolas Kuhn the first arrival in the door.
The winger has penned a long-term deal with the Scottish champions following a £3million move from Rapid Vienna. He could be handed a quick-fire debut this weekend in the Scottish Cup against Buckie Thistle in front of the home support as the Hoops look to add further reinforcements as the winter window enters its business end. The minutes continue to tick away for clubs up and down the country and it is no different for Celtic in their pursuit for new additions, letting fringe men leave and retaining star men.
Rodgers has openly praised Greg Taylor and the role he has played for him since his return to the club. He really upped his game under Ange Postecoglou and has made the left-back position his own. Alexandro Bernabei has failed to deliver that real competition for places and he has been linked with an exit. That has prompted the Hoops boss to look to add in that area and it is something he would love to get done.
He explained: “My job is to bring competition to the squad in a number of areas. I’ve got to say, Greg has been brilliant for me. Clearly there is a loading issue there we need to be mindful of if we don’t bring in support there. I know I’ve got Liam Scales who can play there, in a worst case scenario.
“But Greg has been great for me. Like some of the players, he probably took some time to adapt to what we’ve been asking them to do. But now with everyone in sync, you can see how much he’s improved from a defensive perspective and the football side of his game is very good.
“I really, really like him. You always need those personalities. Greg is a real voice on the pitch. He’s very respectful of everything and you need players with that spirit and mentality. Being at a big club is about competition and it’s my job to make the squad as good as it can be.”
Elsewhere, Record Sport exclusively revealed that Cameron Carter-Vickers is attracting interest from south of the border.
West Ham, Brentford and Nottingham Forest all want the former Tottenham defender and have been monitoring him this campaign. Postecoglou initially landed him on loan from North London before shelling out around £6m to bring him in permanently. Chris Sutton reckons his old club will bank big money, just like they’ve done in the past with Jota and Kieran Tierney. He reckons Celtic are looking at netting at least another £20m should English clubs firm up their interest and come knocking.
Rocco Vata is another who a lot of talk has surrounded with his contract up in the summer. He has interest from Italy in the shape of Bologna and Como 1907 with Sky Sports reporting that the Hoops have given permission to the youngster to hold talks.
However, it also states that Celtic ARE planning talks over a potential extension to keep the highly-rated attacker in Glasgow – but he feels ready for regular first-team football at this stage of his career. One to watch in the coming days.
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