Celtic supervisor Brendan Rodgers had an enormous summer season at Parkhead within the switch window as there have been various modifications made to the enjoying squad.
Regardless of profitable the Scottish Premiership title and the SFA Cup final season, the Northern Irishman determined to make a number of recent signings to bolster the squad.
Some have been enforced due to Matt O’Riley’s transfer to Premier League facet Brighton & Hove Albion, which led to the signings of Arne Engels and Luke McCowan from Augsburg and Dundee respectively.
The Northern Irish head coach was additionally ruthless with the gamers on the perimeter of his squad, as Hyeon-gyu Oh, Mikey Johnston, and Tomoki Iwata have been all offered, while Gustaf Lagerbielke was allowed to go away on mortgage.
Oh’s transfer to Genk on a everlasting deal initially left the Hoops with Kyogo Furuhashi as their solely recognised, senior, centre-forward, earlier than the membership swooped to signal Adam Idah from Norwich Metropolis for a reported fee of £9.5m after his preliminary mortgage spell.
Celtic had three strikers, with Oh, Idah, and Kyogo, within the second half of final season, and presently have two, however have been linked with including a 3rd to the group within the upcoming January switch window.
Celtic’s curiosity in Premier League marksman
The Boot Room reported in November that Celtic are one in all various golf equipment involved in signing Brighton & Hove Albion centre-forward Evan Ferguson.
It acknowledged that Rangers and the Hoops are each eager on touchdown the Irish marksman on mortgage for the second half of the season, to bolster their respective assaults, and that they’ve each expressed an ‘curiosity’ in him.
Nevertheless, they might want to beat off competitors from a number of Premier League groups with a purpose to safe his providers. West Ham, Southampton, Leicester, and Fulham are additionally eyeing up a winter swoop for the 20-year-old starlet.
The Boot Room added that Brighton have given the inexperienced gentle for him to discover a short-term membership for the second half of the season, as his sport time has been restricted by the presence of Danny Welbeck and Joao Pedro forward of him within the pecking order.
It revealed that the Seagulls would additionally need assurances from any crew that he indicators for that the striker will play repeatedly, quite than sending him out on mortgage to be a bit-part participant.
While it stays to be seen whether or not or not Celtic will formalise their curiosity with an official provide to take him on mortgage, Ferguson does have the potential to be a great addition to the squad.
Evan Ferguson’s large potential
The Eire worldwide has solely started two matches within the Premier League this season, however he got here into the marketing campaign with an ankle harm that saved him out from April to August.
Previous to that harm, Ferguson had scored 12 goals in 25 begins within the English top-flight within the 2021/22 and 2022/23 campaigns mixed for Brighton, aged between 17 and 19 throughout that interval.
The 20-year-old star, who has scored 13 goals from 9.99 xG in his Premier League profession, has confirmed himself to be a unbelievable and composed finisher who can benefit from the alternatives that fall his means, even in opposition to goalkeepers on the prime stage.
He caught the attention as a young person within the 2023/24 marketing campaign for Brighton, enjoying in 27 of their 38 league video games, and showcased his potential as a participant in a significant European league.
|
23/24 Premier League |
Evan Ferguson |
|---|---|
|
Appearances |
27 |
|
Begins |
15 |
|
xG |
4.61 |
|
Objectives |
6 |
|
Duel success charge |
40% |
As you possibly can see within the desk above, Ferguson outperformed his Anticipated Objectives tally by 1.39 but additionally struggled together with his particular person duels, shedding the vast majority of his battles.
While these statistics recommend that the Irishman may thrive with the standard of probabilities that Celtic create, as he’s a scientific finisher, Rodgers may save the membership cash by exploring another choice.
As an alternative of signing the Premier League ahead on mortgage, the Northern Irish head coach may lastly unleash B crew star Daniel Cummings from the beginning.
Why Daniel Cummings ought to be unleashed
Firstly, it will be an economical answer for Celtic as a result of the membership wouldn’t must splash out on a mortgage price or wages to deliver Ferguson in.
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Secondly, it will make extra sense for the Hoops within the long-term as a result of they might be growing one in all their very own gamers who may very well be a future star and a worthwhile asset additional down the road, if they’ll agree a brand new contract with the teenage star – as his current deal expires subsequent summer season.
Lastly, Cummings’ kind for the B crew up to now this season means that his inclusion within the first-team squad may very well be simply as thrilling as signing Ferguson from Brighton on mortgage, as he has been on hearth for the youth facet.
Within the 2024/25 marketing campaign, the 18-year-old marksman has scored a staggering 23 goals in 23 matches throughout the UEFA Youth League and the Lowland League.
As you possibly can see within the clip above, Cummings additionally scored a wonderful aim in his crew’s 3-2 defeat to Rangers within the Glasgow Cup on Tuesday evening, taking him to 24 objectives for the season.
The Scotland youth worldwide is but to make his senior bow for the Hoops and a return of 38 goals in 57 academy video games means that he deserves an opportunity to showcase his high quality in a first-team atmosphere sooner quite than later.
As you possibly can see within the desk above, Cummings has been considerably extra prolific at youth crew stage than Ferguson was at Brighton earlier than his breakthrough.
The primary distinction between them at this level is that the Celtic goalscoring machine has not been given a possibility to shine within the first-team, as their statistics at youth stage don’t recommend that the Seagulls teen is a considerably higher prospect.
Due to this fact, Rodgers may neglect about Ferguson by unleashing his personal model of the Irish expertise from the B crew and utilizing Cummings to compete with Idah and Kyogo within the second half of the season.
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