With the transfer window ticking ever closer to completion, Neil Lennon and Nick Hammond desperately need to bring a few more bodies to Celtic.
That being said, not even new signings would bridge the colossal gap between Rangers and the Hoops at the top of the SPFL.
What’s the word?
Lennon admitted this week that Celtic were near to signing two new players in the concluding days of the window.
He didn’t open up on who those faces will be but according to the French press, it could be Congolese midfielder Giannelli Imbula.
Le Parisien reports that the midfielder has been offered to the Bhoys who are now weighing up a potential move. Imbula is out of contract after leaving Russian club Sochi and thus, could move to Parkhead on a free transfer.
The 28-year-old was linked with the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal earlier in his career in a move that could have cost in the region of £25m according to La Provence (via The Express). His displays, however, has fallen off since that.
Brown’s successor?
Imbula’s career has been a rocky road. Signed by Stoke for £18.3m in 2016, he played just 28 times in four years. Spells with Toulouse, Rayo Vallecano and Lecce followed but unfortunately, he’s not been able to live up to the dizzy heights expected of him when he was younger.
When the midfield general first signed for Stoke, Xherdan Shaqiri suggested that Imbula had unbelievable technique, even comparing him to a certain Patrick Vieira.
With qualities like that, it’s easy to see where he’d fit in. Celtic have preferred Scott Brown for the vast majority of this season but his place in the side has come under considerable threat from Ismaila Soro. The diminutive midfielder has been superb since signing for the club and has made that holding role his own.
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However, with the arrival of Imbula, it could finally give Lennon the ammunition to axe Brown once and for all. The Scotland international is a tenacious individual but at the age of 35 is clearly coming towards the end of his career.
Some of his performance this term would certainly suggest that his displays are dropping off and consequently, moving away from his tired and timid nature would be good news for everyone at Celtic.
He has been at fault time and time again this season, with the latest of his woeful errors coming when he was sent off against Livingston last week.
With the Hoops stuck in such a rut, it’s time for fresh faces in Glasgow. Brown has done it all at Celtic but Imbula’s potential arrival must be the end of the road.
After all, he is a tough-tackling midfielder too. He won 2.4 tackles per game for Marseille during the 2014/15 campaign when he was being touted with big-money moves.
Of course, those types of displays have been few and far between over the last few years but he’s certainly in the mould of Brown. On a free transfer, it would be smart work in the transfer market from Celtic.