Former England striker, Darren Bent, has claimed Celtic should do all they can to sign “bargain” Mohamed Elyounoussi as the Parkhead club look to make the deal permanent.
Bent, speaking to Football Insider, has applauded the Hoops efforts to try to sign the best players possible in their attempts to win their ninth successive league title.
So what has Bent said?
When asked if he feels Elyounoussi could be a bargain, even at the reported figure of £9m, Bent said:
“Yeah it could be and I’m all for that”.
“I think it’s a bargain, I would snap their hand off. Also I like that Celtic and Rangers try to get the best players to Scotland now, but I also like how they try to take players to the next level”.
“They shop in the Premier League and try to recruit talented players, and I’ve played with players who have featured for Celtic and they say it’s unbelievable to play for them”.
“And if I was Celtic I would snap their hand off”.
So is Bent correct?
Even at £9m Elyounoussi still represents a large outlay for Celtic and would match the record transfer fee paid to land Odsonne Edouard.
The Norwegian international was performing well prior to his injury and has 7 goals and 6 assists in 13 appearances in the green and white hoops so far this season.
The dilemma facing Celtic is how to prioritise their transfer spending with speculation of interest in Andraz Sporar who is rated at £7m and on-loan goalkeeper Fraser Forster, who wouldn’t come cheap if the Parkhead side were able to convert his deal into a permanent one.
Elyounoussi would represent good value for money, in relative terms, and he wouldn’t be a gamble in that Neil Lennon would know exactly what he was getting for his money, whether this would be the best use of funds is another story.
Should Celtic pay £9m for Elyounoussi to make his loan spell permanent?
Yes
No
Bent forgets that for an English club, £9m is small change, however, in Scotland it remains a huge sum of money and the Hoops board will question the need to spend as much with Mikey Johnston, James Forrest, Ryan Christie and Marian Shved all capable of playing in the wide attacking roles, after all, 0ne team’s bargain is another’s record signing.