Chris Sutton urges Celtic to get serious with this transfer window
Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton has urged the club hierarchy to get ‘serious’ with recruitment if they reach the Champions League group stage…
Martin O’Neill’s side already have one foot in the door after Wednesday’s 3-0 win over LASK, but will have finish the job in Linz on Tuesday evening if they are to secure a £40 million payday.
If the Hoops prevail, then Sutton believes they will need to add more quality reinforcements if they harbour any ambitions of competing with Europe’s elite.
With Camilo Duran, Kasper Hogh, Miko Baur, and Haissem Hassan already been added to Martin O’Neill’s side, and although Sutton believes they are good acquisitions, the former Celtic star believes that while they are now well equipped for the domestic challenge, the club need more quality it they want to compete at the highest level.
“O’Neill needs more reinforcements,”Sutton told Daily Record in his weekly column. “It’s too late now regarding the second leg against LASK and I suspect they might wait to see if they do get to the Champions League before deciding just how big they go in the remainder of the window.
“If they can get there though, Celtic do have to get serious. Have they got enough already to cope with the Premiership? Maybe so. The ambitions have to be higher though. Making an impact in Europe has to be the aim.
“They can’t just get to the group stage and be happy to turn up, collect the cash and say thank you very much. They need to compete. To do so, O’Neil will need further additions,” the former Celtic goalscorer added.
Celtic are expected to complete a £7 million deal for Bosnian International Ermin Mahmic, with Chelsea teenager Landon Emenalo also expected to sign a season long loan deal this week. The club will NOT have an option to buy included in the Emenalo deal as the player remains highly rated at Chelsea and is as things stand very much part of their future plans.
Further bids for Hajduk Split’s Niko Sigur, and Torino’s Gvidas Gineitis also expected in the coming days. Sigur has had interest from Celtic and Toulouse with Jens Berthel Askou’s side reportedly having had a £2m bid thrown out by Hajduk Split over the weekend.
The opportunity to play in the Champions League is certainly going to be a consideration for the player and he’ll no doubt be watching with interest tomorrow night as the action unfolds in Linz with Celtic going into the second leg with a healthy 3-0 advantage, with the Croatian Football outlet noting that Niko Sigur’s future will be decided AFTER his side’s Conference League match on Thursday night.
