JUSTIN:Celtic made secret contact to sign one of the…
Celtic made secret contact to sign “crazy” new attacker for Rodgers.
Brendan Rodgers wanted to bring a new striker to Celtic in the January transfer window, and he finally got his man on deadline day as the Hoops struck a loan deal for Norwich City frontman Adam Idah.
hat agreement doesn’t include an option to buy, so there’s a possibility that Rodgers and his recruitment staff will have to revisit the position come the summer market.
Another number nine who’s been on Celtic’s radar is Brondby’s Mathias Kvistgaarden. The Scottish Premiership side reportedly held talks with the Danish club over a move last month, having been impressed with his performances in the Superliga.
Celtic reignited Kvistgaarden interest in secret
Now, Football Scotland’s Mark Hendry has revealed that Celtic made a secret new approach for Kvistgaarden “fairly late on in the January transfer window”. While Brondby warned of their reluctance to sell, they did quote Celtic a price, but no official offer materialised.
Intriguingly, Hendry raises the possibility, on the basis of their ongoing interest, that Celtic will revisit a deal for Kvistgaarden in the off-season if they still have a vacancy. They may still be holding out hope that the 21-year-old will end up donning green and white.
It could be Idah vs Kvistgaarden this summer
Kvistgaarden finished the 2022/23 season in “crazy” form, to quote talent scout Jacek Kulig, as he notched ten direct goal contributions (six goals, four assists) in just five games, and he’s carried that momentum into the current campaign with 12 involvements in 17 matches (five goals, seven assists).
He ranks second in the league for assists, and fourth for goals and assists combined, but the key question for Celtic will be how he stacks up to Idah. While it’s always difficult to compare players in two different leagues, Brondby (155th) aren’t a million miles away from Idah’s previous club Norwich (214th) in Opta’s Global Power Rankings, and they’d played an almost identical number of minutes before the latter’s move up north. As you can see, Idah was scoring at a higher rate, but wasn’t a notable creative force.
While Celtic may not have an explicit option to buy the Irishman, they’ve apparently been told that he’s available for just over £3m this summer. If Kvistgaarden is significantly more expensive, there may be an argument for sticking with Idah, depending of course on how he performs over the next few months.