Former Premier League striker, Darren Bent, believes that signing Ki Sung-Yeung would be a good move for Celtic as they look to add reinforcements in the January transfer window.
The former Celt is currently at Newcastle United but has found game time hard to come by this season and Bent, speaking to Football Insider, is all for the move.
So what has Bent said?
When asked if he thought it would be a good move for Ki, Bent replied:
“Yeah of course. He has been a good player, he knows the club and sometimes it’s about how things fit”.
“Been there before, knows the club really really well, so for him and his family, it’s probably easy for him to go back to Celtic as he is familiar with the club and its surroundings”.
But is Bent correct?
Ki, at 30-years-old, still has plenty to offer and will have learned from his eight years and 187 appearances playing in the Premier League. Celtic need midfield options and he would represent a safe move were he to be available either on loan or in a cut-price deal.
The only issue would be whether or not he would accept not being guaranteed first-team football, Neil Lennon’s first choice pairing in central midfield is clearly Scott Brown and Callum McGregor with Olivier Ntcham and Nir Bitton as back-up.
Brown has played 36 games this season, hardly a drop off in fitness so he should be around for a few years yet, Ki wouldn’t want to take the step back into Scottish football if he could secure regular game time in England – why swap one bench for another?
It would be an easy move for Ki to make, he left Celtic for Swansea in 2012 and there are still a few familiar faces around Parkhead, Lennon was in charge of the Hoops, Brown was skipper and Fraser Forster was between the sticks.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/swansea-city/9497993/Swansea-complete-signing-of-Ki-Sung-yueng-from-Celtic-for-club-record-fee.html
As with most transfer deals, it all comes down to the finances and whether or not the player wants the move to happen, Ki would strengthen the Celtic squad and Bent is right – he was a good player for them and more importantly he won trophies with them too. The Bhoys have plenty winners in their squad already, but there is always room for one more.