Celtic’s transfer business this summer has been a perplexing state of affairs.
The Hoops have known since the latter stages of last season that they’d have a Champions League qualifying phase for which to prepare, but that seemingly didn’t register fully with the board.
Ange Postecoglou has already spoken out at his lack of options after they were defeated by Midtjylland across two legs but it doesn’t look as though proceedings will get too much better.
The Hoops lost to Hearts in their Premiership opener, and even if they are finally on the verge of acquiring a right-back, they are rather stretched in other areas.
One position they’ll need to acquire is further forward in attack. Odsonne Edouard is still attracting the interest of Brighton, so a replacement will be required.
They have signed Kyogo Furuhashi, the J-League’s top scorer this term, but his debut didn’t provide too much hope for the future, gifting possession away during a late cameo.
Albian Ajeti scored twice during pre-season but doesn’t look as though he’ll receive too much time on the field in the early stages of the campaign.
Celtic have since been linked with a move for French forward Jean-Kevin Augustin.
The striker is currently contracted by Nantes but is embroiled in a lengthy transfer saga with Leeds United. The Premier League club landed him on a six-month loan deal when they were still in the Championship and had an obligation to buy once they went up.
However, they broke that agreement and refused to sign him. That sparked a hearing with FIFA and his future still isn’t entirely clear.
You can understand why Leeds refused to pay the money. Augustin’s attitude was poor and, more importantly, his fitness in the last few years is extremely questionable.
The 24-year-old played just 48 minutes at Leeds, failing to impress Marcelo Bielsa during the Argentine’s taxing training sessions.
Augustin didn’t earn many opportunities with Nantes, either. The forward, who has 26 career goals to his name, played just three times in the 2020/21 season and struggled with the long-term impacts of the ongoing pandemic.
Again, his fitness levels were at an insufficient level, and thus it would be a questionable move to sign him.
Celtic have taken on some nightmare signings in recent years, with Patryk Klimala and Vakoun Bayo coming to mind in offensive situations.
That being said, if we’re looking at an injury and fitness point of view, the Bhoys have had further misfortune elsewhere. Charly Musonda managed just eight games before enduring injury hell, but the biggest disaster was Daniel Arzani’s time in Glasgow.
Brendan Rodgers rated him highly but the Australian only ever earned two outings after suffering a nasty ACL injury. Consequently, his time at Celtic came to an end after just 28 minutes on the field of play.
Augustin had a similar amount of time at Leeds, and although a severe injury hasn’t occurred, the Bhoys may just be signing someone to sit on the sidelines again.
Postecoglou must avoid this move at all costs; Celtic have already made too many transfer mistakes in the last few years.