Double Champions League winner can improve Celtic’s striking fortunes says report

We all know Celtic’s front line is threadbare. We all know we need reinforcements because we all know Albian Ajeti is not the answer to the striker question.

But a report in The Daily Record today offered a quick fix solution to Celtic’s striker crisis and if we were going to jump into the Doc’s DeLorean and hop back ten years ago then yeah, these names may have tickled me.

But regardless, I know we are desperate but are we really THIS desperate?

The report listed seven free agents that could maybe do a job for Celtic right now. I have decided to focus on the three attackers as that is where most of our issues lie at the moment.

And I decided to rip them apart. One by one.

The first is Hal Robson-Kanu. Released by West Brom, Robson-Kanu is an experienced Wales international and, although is primarily a winger, he was used as a striker when the Welsh participated in Euro 2016.

He scored two goals to help the team reach the semi finals of the competition but they were knocked out at the semi final stage by the eventual victors, Portugal.

Off the back of that tournament, Robson-Kanu earned a contract with Premier League outfit West Brom. He went on to make 154 appearances for the club scoring just 24 goals. A goal every 6.5 games.

He was released this summer after his contract expired and is still searching for a new club.

The next two names will raise some eyebrows.

The second player is Andy Carroll.

Once tipped to become a major England star, Carroll burst onto the scene at Newcastle United and at just 17 years old, became the youngest player to play for the Geordies in Europe when he made a substitute appearance against Parma back in 2006.

Since then he earned a £35m  move to Liverpool in 2011 off the back of two very good seasons at the Toon but failed to hit the same heights for The Reds.

Now 32 years old, Carroll’s injury history reads like a War and Peace novel and since his return to Newcastle in 2019, scored just one goal in 39 appearances.

And finally, the pièce de résistance, the top of the tree is two time Champions League winner, Daniel Sturridge.

Sturridge started his professional career with Manchester City after progressing through the youth ranks at Aston Villa and Coventry.

After moves to Chelsea and Bolton, Sturridge really came into his element when he moved to Liverpool in 2013 and after 116 appearances for the Scousers, he scored an impressive 50 goals, however, that was over a six year period.

However, he does have two Champions League winners medals with Liverpool and Chelsea, a Premier League winners medal and two FA Cup winners medals so he knows what it takes to win silverware.

Like Andy Carroll, Sturridge does have a shocking injury history that makes horrific reading which you can read here.

Sturridge has struggled to find a settled club since he left Liverpool in 2019 and after failed spells at West Brom and Trabzonspor, the 32 year old former England international has been clubless since March 2020 where he received a four month ban and £150,000 fine for breaching betting rules.

So in summary, not one of these players would make any impression on the Celtic bench, never mind the first team and the fact that they have seen the top of a treatment table more than a grass pitch and still don’t have a club shows that The Daily Record have put no thought into their list and just threw names from yesteryear together in the hope that…..in fact, I’m not even sure what the point was of the article!