Celtic FC expecting a busy transfer market this season
Scotland giants Celtic are currently on a pre season tour to United States and Canada, team manager Neil Lennon says that he needs certain reinforcements in the team, and will be quite busy during the transfer season once his team heads back to Scotland after the tour.
He added that the team has had some very good performances on the tour, and new players have fitted in well in a short amount of time.
Celtic have been active in the transfer market and have already attained the services of Joe Ledley from Cardiff City, the Mexican midfielder Efrain Juarez, Daryl Murphy , Cha Du-Ri from South Korea and Charlie Mulgrew .
Lennon said that he has some players lined up and will start the pursuit once the tour is over, he added that the team needs someone experienced between the posts. He said that England Goalkeeper David James would be an ideal choice and with his team Portsmouth in so many problems he may be willing to make the switch, in addition to that Scunthorpe striker Gary Hooper is also on his shopping list.
Neil said that Liam Lawrence from Stoke City has been in good form and will be a good fit for Celtic, while in defence he is eying up Kelvin Wilson from Nottingham Forest.
Celtic played their final game on the tour of North America, where they played Sporting Lisbon at Fenway Park. Celtic won the match on penalties to end the tour on a winning note.
Although the match was just a friendly it was contested with a lot of aggression and saw a number of strong challenges from both sides. Celtic did dominate most of the match and got a deserved lead through the tall Greek striker Georgios Samaras in the 72nd minute. However, just moments before the final whistle former Tottenham striker Helder Postiga headed in the equaliser.
The match was decided on a penalty shootout; the first 5 from both teams were bang on target and it went to sudden death. Liedson stepped up for the 6th kick and shot it high and wide. Paul McGowan from Celtic scored the next to seal the win.
Fenway Park is the home ground for Boston Red Sox; a baseball team. This was the first time that a football match was held at the ground that was established in 1968.
Celtic had a successful time in United States and their only loss came to Manchester United, but they did get some minor injuries as well. Juarez (the new signing who did not play a game on tour) is expected not to be fit in time to play Braga in the all important Champions League qualifier next week.
The new signing joined the team in Seattle, but now has headed back to Mexico to recover from his injury, and also to sort out some last minute formalities to complete his transfer.
Team manager Lennon said that Juarez has flown back to finish some paperwork regarding his visa and also the work permit.
Lennon added that the team is facilitating him in every way possible and assured that he will be with the team next week. Lennon stressed on the importance of the Champions League qualifier against Braga.
Celtic have been a big name in Scottish football for decades alongside Rangers, but there has been an argument in European football for long that the 2 big names from Scottish football are hardly challenged in the Scottish Premier league and if they are to improve especially in Europe they should be included in the Barclays Premier league, but English FA have for years played down that possibility.
Tags: