Celtic are eager to reinforce their squad with a few more additions during the final few days which are left of this summer transfer window for Scottish clubs.
The Celts have made some big-money additions in the transfer market this term, as they have brought in the likes of Camilo Duran, Kasper Hogh, Haissem Hassan and Mika Baur, four players who had already made a name for themselves before moving to Glasgow this summer.
Martin O’Neill and his new signings started the season in the most impressive fashion possible, but it all came crashing down in the second leg against LASK in Austria.
Criticism of Celtic’s defeat against LASK
The game seemingly changed the entire complexion of the Hoops’ efforts this summer, as they threw away a 4-0 lead on aggregate by losing 5-1 on the night against the Austrian champions.
A lot of questions have been asked of O’Neill and his support staff since that dreadful display from the Celts, and once again fingers were pointed towards the club management’s lack of planning during this transfer window.
Scott Brown points out the real flaw
Celtic legend Scott Brown became the latest to critique the club’s failure to replace Arne Engels since his Championship record move to West Ham United.
While speaking on Sportscene (via Celts are here), Brown talked about the void left by Engels:
“I think when you go into Europe, you need Engels’ running power; it’s going to be hugely missed.
“A lot of people underestimated how good he is box-to-box, and maybe people didn’t see the quality of that, but now you’re starting to see it in big games.
“Big games, big players, and that’s what he was. I think they need another midfielder in there.”
The former skipper’s words of wisdom make a lot of sense when it comes to the Celts’ second-half collapse against LASK, as Luke McCowan failed to cover for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s absence on the night.
Celtic committed to reinforcing the squad
But as it seems, the club are committed to replacing the Belgian midfielder before deadline day. In fact, they could sign not one but two players for that role.
Deals have been agreed for Joel van den Berg of PSV Eindhoven as well as Oliver Sorensen of Parma, who has completed a medical in London ahead of his move to Celtic.
Hopefully, one of them will turn out to be exactly what O’Neill and the club management need to succeed in the Europa League this time around.
