Brendan Rodgers tried to sign £35m PL player during first spell at Celtic

Brendan Rodgers tried to sign £35m PL player during first spell at Celtic

News that Celtic could be interested in Wolves striker, Fabio Silva hit the headlines just prior to this weekend.

TBR Celtic told how the £35m striker is of interest to Brendan Rodgers on Thursday and it seems that this isn’t the only time the Hoops gaffer tried to land him in Paradise.

Former Celtic striker, Andy Walker, was speaking about Fabio Silva and he revealed that his old club tried to sign the Portuguese striker back in Rodgers’ first stint as Hoops boss.

Walker said [The Go Radio Football Show], “He was on Celtic’s radar a number of years ago. I remember doing a game down south when he was playing for Wolves and they were all talking about the interest from Celtic.

“I mean he’s got skill, he’s got ability, he’s played at a good level and that was during Brendan Rodgers’ first spell in charge when he was here with Chris Davies.

“But he’s certainly been on their radar before.”

Now, you might ask what’s the point of that? It was five years ago. Well now that Rodgers has been banging on about adding quality and questions have been raised about whether or not he is in charge of Celtic’s recruitment, at least now the club are linked with a player that Rodgers clearly likes.

Fabio Silva Celtic striker?

Could the young 21-year-old forward really do a job for Celtic? The Portugal u21 international has made 159 career appearances at both youth and senior level.

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Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images

In that time he has scored just 32 goals and created 18 assists. However his goalscoring rate at U21 International is very impressive.

Ten in 19 appearances for his country, which includes a hattrick against Liechtenstein in July 2022, is not to be sniffed at so clearly, the young man does have an eye for goal. [Transfermarkt]

Obviously, if any deal were to be brokered between Wolves and Celtic it would be with a view to loan. With the EPL club shelling out £35m for the striker, despite being cash-rich, Celtic are in no place to get anywhere near that figure to bring him to Paradise permanently.

 

23-year-old Celtic player told he ‘will be sold’ in the January transfer window

Celtic have been vocal, in fact, should I say that Brendan Rodgers has been vocal over the last month or two about needing to trim the squad in the coming January window.

The Hoops gaffer wants to get players who have no future at the club or are deemed not good enough to play any part in the remainder of this season.

One of those players who looks to be on his way out of the club is 23-year-old Swedish defender, Gustaf Lagerbielke.

The Swedish Defender of the Year has been a bit part player over the last few months despite being used by Rodgers at the start of the season during his defensive injury crisis.

A major mistake in the Champions League group stage opener against Feyenoord seems to have been the beginning of the end of Lagerbielke’s Celtic career and now, it seems, he will definitely be sold next month.

Journalist, Mark Guidi, told previously how the people inside Celtic Park told him that the youngster isn’t rated by Rodgers and now he looks to be on his way out.

Guidi said [The Go Radio Football Show], “I think, Gus Lagerbielke, there’s a strong interest on him and I think there’s there’s an expectancy that he will be sold next month.

“There’s one or two bits of movement on that already with European clubs. And I don’t think Brendan Rodgers is that bothered about losing him.

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“I think that’s a decision has been made on him and there’s definitely interest there.”

Clearly, the Celtic manager has made his mind up about Lagerbielke and if there are a host of European clubs with a strong interest in him then maybe Celtic could recoup most of the £3m they were convinced on shelling out for him in the summer.

It’s a shame that he wasn’t given more time to prove himself as he did initially perform well for Celtic at the beginning of the season. Well, domestically at least.

Maybe Rodgers feels that to take the club forward in Europe, Lagerbielke is just not going to cut it and he’s being ruthless early rather than dragging the youngster’s Celtic career out.

Whatever the reason, let’s hope that Lagerbielke’s situation is sorted swiftly for the benefit of Celtic and the player.

 

 

Rodgers gets reaction, summer signing shines; 3 things we learned as Celtic beat Livingston

Celtic are back to winning ways in the Scottish Premiership after comfortably beating Livingston by a 2-0 goal margin at Celtic Park on Saturday.

Kyogo Furuhashi was on the scoresheet to open the scoring seconds after the half-time interval, before Liam Scales doubled the advantage from the corner a few minutes later.

There’s a long way to go for this Brendan Rodgers team but it was undoubtedly a much brighter performance compared to recent fixtures against Hearts and Kilmarnock. It felt far more like Celtic on and off the pitch, with the ultras section again full.

What are the big talking points coming out of the match? Here are three of ours.

Brendan Rodgers gets the desired reaction

 

After last weekend’s Hearts match, the Celtic boss was scathing about his players and told reporters he wasn’t even surprised with the result.

An important debrief then took place at Lennoxtown, so all eyes were on the performance today and whether or not the manager can continue to get a tune out of these players. There were understandable concerns they had completely checked out.

However, it’s clear that Rodgers does know how to push their buttons and get a reaction out of them. The team started impressively with attacking intent, then eventually found the goals required. Celtic now have a clean slate to push on and find some consistency.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Livingston are the worst team in the league so far this season. But Celtic went about their task with the right attitude today and got the job done with significant pressure on their shoulders. That’s pleasing, regardless of the opposition.

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Luis Palma steps up for Celtic

 

Summer signing Luis Palma registered his seventh and eighth assists of the season for the Bhoys, providing that much-needed bit of creativity that Celtic have lacked recently.

Kyogo was lurking to divert a fired ball into the box and whether it was a shot from Palma, or a shot, it was the key moment that unlocked the Livingston defence.

Then, he fired in a devilish corner to the near post for Liam Scales to divert home. Celtic have really struggled to score directly from set-pieces in recent seasons, so it was pleasing to see that one come off.

Palma has had as many questions asked about him in recent weeks as anyone in the team, but the Honduran added that touch of class today and hopefully, it’s a sign of more consistent contributions moving forward.

Massive goal for Kyogo

Kyogo Furuhashi had only scored one goal in his last 12 matches for Celtic coming into today. The failure to utilise him as a goal threat in recent weeks has been a key problem for the Bhoys.

However, he was lively in the early stages today and showed that striking sharpness to get on the scoresheet for his ninth of the season in total.

That should fill him with confidence heading into matches against Dundee, Rangers and St Mirren. Celtic will need him to find his scoring boots again before the winter break to pick up the wins we want, most likely.

You could see what the goal meant to him in the celebration. He really wanted and needed that effort. Now the Japanese forward and Celtic need to kick on.

Aston Villa want title-winning £26m midfielder who ‘glides about the pitch’

Aston Villa have reportedly set their sights on Celtic’s Matt O’Riley ahead of the January transfer window.

The Villans are flying high in the Premier League and in Europe, and could well look to bolster their ranks further in January to maintain their momentum.

According to Sky Sports, Villa are one of several teams that have been watching O’Riley with a view to a potential approach.

As well as the Villans, the likes of West Ham, PSV Eindhoven, Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan are reportedly eyeing the midfielder.

Photo by Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images

The Sky Sports report claims Inter are prepared to offer an initial loan until the end of the season with an obligation to buy him in the summer.

In terms of price tag, Fabrizio Romano previously claimed that any team wishing to sign O’Riley would have to break the Scottish transfer record.

This currently stands at £25million, the fee Celtic received when they sold Portuguese winger Jota to Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ittihad in the summer.

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Aston Villa one of multiple teams in pursuit of Matt O’Riley

Villa have struck gold multiple times in the transfer market this year, and O’Riley would be another outstanding addition to the claret-and-blue ranks.

The 23-year-old is on nine goals and eight assists for the season so far, an especially great tally when you consider he’s a central midfielder.

Furthermore, three of his assists have come in the Champions League, showing how apt he is at the highest level.

In October, Sky Sports pundit Kris Boyd backed O’Riley to be “one of the next ones to go in terms of big money” from the Scottish top flight.

Boyd said on Sky Sports: “You could sit and watch Matt O’Riley play football all day. He’s a top-class player.

“He glides about the pitch and Brendan Rodgers has obviously asked him to get forward more this season. He is reaping the benefits of that.”

Villa – or any other suitors – would likely be looking at £26million and over for O’Riley.

It’s a fairly hefty price tag, but considering Declan Rice went for over £100million, it goes to show that an elite midfielder is worth his weight in gold. And O’Riley has the makings of one.

At the same time, the reigning Scottish champions only have a two-point lead at the top over second-placed Rangers, who have a game in hand. They may refuse to sell O’Riley until the summer at least.

Brendan Rodgers struck by ‘strange’ Celtic feeling before Livingston stroll as boss drops Christmas dinner quip

The Irishman watched on as his side coasted to victory over the side currently propping up the league table.

CELTIC PLAYER RATINGS FROM SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP CLASH AGAINST LIVINGSTON

Brendan Rodgers says his Christmas dinner will go down a treat after Celtic’s comfortable 2-0 win over Livingston.

The hosts were booed off once again after a drab first half, off the back of back-to-back defeats against Kilmarnock and Hearts. But whatever the boss said at half-time worked as the champions flew out the traps with Kyogo and Liam Scales goals less than 10 minutes after the restart, leaving David Martindale’s floored.

Speaking to Sportsound, Rodgers insisted it was important for the Hoops to get back on track with Dundee at Dens Park and the all-important second derby of the season with Rangers coming on December 30th. He said when asked if his Christmas dinner will taste better in victory: “It always does. Winning always makes the food taste that bit better, for sure. It was a much better performance and result, of course. After two disappointing results you have to react.

“It felt strange as a Celtic manager to be in that position. But you have to respond and you can do your talking on the pitch, and I thought the players did that really well today.

“They probably didn’t get the goals they deserved. But from the off you could see the tempo and intensity was much better.”

Kyogo’s goal was his first since November 12th against Aberdeen, a seven-game stretch. Rodgers added: “I think he is only three short of where he was last season. But strikers want to score goals. It was an important team goal but nice for him to get a goal.”

Glasgow Derby Injury Concern for Celtic

Celtic emerged victorious with a 2-0 win over Livingston, a welcome relief following back-to-back defeats.

3rd December 2023; McDiarmid Park, Perth, Scotland: Scottish Premiership Football, St Johnstone versus Celtic; Alistair Johnston of Celtic celebrates towards the fans after the Matt ORiley of Celtic goal in the 79th minute makes it 2-1

However, the triumph came with a tinge of concern as right-back Alistair Johnston appeared to suffer an injury towards the end of the match.

He looked to have pulled up injured, making him a concern for the Glasgow Derby next week.

The game saw Kyogo breaking his goal drought. Kyogo found the net, marking an end to his recent period without goals. This strike set the tone for Celtic’s dominance in the match.

Liam Scales doubled Celtic’s lead by heading in a corner from Palma.

Impressively, Palma also played a crucial role in setting up Kyogo’s goal, showcasing his ability to orchestrate key plays.

The Green Brigade returned to the stands for the win. The group made their presence felt for the first time in 13 games after being absent due to a ban.

Hopefully Brendan Rodgers can provide a positive update on the right back.

Mark Wilson reacts to what he is hearing from the Celtic board that just ‘fuels the flames’

The Celtic supporters made their feelings clear towards the board during the defeat to Hearts over the weekend.

Chants of ‘sack the board’ were ringing around Parkhead, as some Celtic fans expressed their frustration at what they have been seeing on the pitch of late.

But Mark Wilson feels that the powers that be aren’t helping themselves by showing off the money that is in the bank, as he told Clyde 1 Superscoreboard.

One of the biggest frustrations for the supporters is that the money is there, yet the feeling is the boat wasn’t pushed out as much as it could have been done during the summer, and now it’s showing.

Even before Brendan Rodgers watched his Celtic side suffer back-to-back Scottish Premiership defeats, there was pressure on money needing to be spent and proven quality having to come in.

And whilst there needs to be a sense of calmness to proceedings, that fire of having to take action in January has now only been engulfed.

The best medicine is just putting wins on the board and the team certainly have big fixtures from now until the end of the month to do that.

But when discussing Celtc’s issues, Mark Wilson had this to say about the board.

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Celtic board

“I don’t think it helps when the board keep coming out and saying ‘we are doing great. Look at the spreadsheet’,” said Wilson.

“That just fuels the flames in Celtic fans wanting more money spent.”

Celtic v Livingston

Just get the three points on the board. Fans are going to expect a fiery start after the fireworks of the weekend.

And if that happens, then you are only as good as your last game.

Celtic know if they can end this month well on the pitch and be strong off it during the winter transfer window, then the worst of this season has already happened.