With Craig Bellamy joining Cardiff City, the focus now turns to who Celtic will turn their attention to next – assuming the acquisition of an attacker is a priority.
Birmingham City’s James McFadden and Leeds United’s Argentine striker Luciano Becchio have both been mentioned, though the former would cost around £4million as his club have the option to extend his contract.
Becchio, 26, would be available for around £1million. He moved to Elland Road from Spanish side Merida in July 2008, having previously played for Barcelona B, Terrassa, Granada 74, Mallorca B and Boca Juniors. Last month Leeds denied claims Becchio had not been offered an extension to his contract, which expires in 12 months.
McFadden recent stated he wants to return to Scotland to play before he retires but, given he’s just 27, that may not be for a few more years. He joined Birmingham from Everton in January 2008 for around £5million but it’s unclear whether the extension clause in his three-and-a-half-year deal is for one or two years.
Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell has stressed the club were in talks with Bellamy for more than a week and had reached a deal with Manchester City – but when Bellamy decided he wanted to go home to Cardiff, any chance of reaching an agreement vanished.
Of course, an alternative to signing any more forwards is to get the most out of the players already at the club. Despite plenty of speculation, Georgios Samaras and Marc-Antoine Fortune are still at the club, while Gary Hooper looks a great signing, albeit one currently sidelined for six weeks.
But with £9.5million generated from the sale of Aiden McGeady to Spartak Moscow, there may be a few unhappy fans if a fairly big signing isn’t made before the transfer window closes. However, with the current financial situation being what it is, having money does not necessarily mean the best option is to spend it.
On a more humorous note, the prize for most ridiculous transfer rumour of the summer may have been secured with the claim Internazionale are considering making a loan swoop for Celtic striker Morten Rasmussen. The less said about the claim the better!
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