Celtic

Andy Walker sends a clear transfer message to Celtic about Hearts captain Lawrence Shankland

Published

6 months ago

January 4, 2024

It seems likely that Celtic will dip into the January transfer market for an attacking player of some kind.

There has been a lot of talk about another striker coming in at Celtic, even though Brendan Rodgers has Kyogo Furuhashi to work with and Hyeongyu Oh as the back-up.

The South Korean star has gone on to international duty for the Asian Cup, so he will be absent for a few weeks, but that’s not the reason to bring in a new striker.

The main reason for it all is to help Celtic progress, including continuing to dominate on the domestic stage and push forward in Europe.

The simple reason behind it is if the 28-year-old can score goals in Europe, most importantly in the Champions League, and Andy Walker ‘isn’t convinced’ he is that guy.

In the Europa Conference League this season, he scored three goals in the qualifiers, and overall, he has six in 12.

But that’s at a much lower level, so you can understand Andy Walker’s concerns.

Celtic’s striker search

“What do Celtic want in a new striker,” asked Walker. “What are Celtic’s goals and what are their ambitions? Obviously, they still want to dominate domestically, but they also want to do a lot better in Europe.

“Is Lawrence Shankland going to score you goals in Europe? Who does Brendan Rodgers like to have a striker? When I have seen Brendan Rodgers teams play, he always likes someone who is quick, fast and mobile. But big and strong.

“He had Dembele at an earlier time at Celtic. He was a really key player.

I know he had a variety of strikers at Leicester, one of them Jamie Vardy, who was really, really quick and a great goalscorer.

“But is Lawrence Shankland going to do it for Celtic when you look at what they want to do? I have no doubt that if Lawrence Shankland goes to any other club in Scotland, in the top three and four clubs, he will score goals because he has done it and knows his way to goal.

“He does get a variety of goals. His goal at Easter Road, right at the top draw. His goal before that, left-foot top corner.

He scored for Scotland, at Ibrox, and Parkhead at Celtic, but what are Celtic looking for in a new striker? I am not convinced it would be Lawrence Shankland.”