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Celtic are going to be due a nice bit of cash from the sale of a former centre half, and Kyle thinks that’s exactly the position Brendan Rodgers should be given money to strengthen in ahead of the Europa League campaign.
CELTIC V BAYERN MUNICH
Manager Brendan Rodgers
Liverpool have agreed a deal to sign former Celtic centre half Virgil van Dijk for a world record fee for a defender of around £75m from Southampton. The deal that went through on January 1, which would have seen the Scottish Premiership champions net up to £7.5m, after it’s believed there was a 10% sell on fee agreed when the Dutchman moved to the South Coast.
Van Dijk arrived at Parkhead from FC Groningen in 2013, and the then 21 year old immediately looked to have a touch of class about him, very comfortable both in defending and with the ball at his feet. After two seasons in Glasgow, the defender who has 15 caps for his country, moved to
English top flight side Southampton for a fee believed to be around £13m.
Now Brendan Rodgers should be given some of that cash to bolster the current Hoops’ defence ahead of a two legged Europa League tie against Russian side Zenit Saint Petersburg. I know that Rodgers has already moved quickly to bring in former RB Leipzig defender Marvin Compper. However I was hasten to remind the Celtic faithful that the 32 year old German is ineligible for the European double header.
Current centre halves Dedryck Boyata and Jozo Šimunović have both had up, and down seasons. Both having spells out with injuries, and both having dips in form, which resulted in Israeli midfielder Nir Bitton having to slot into the back line. With Erik Sviatchenko seemingly nearing the exit door, young Kristoffer Ajer has been getting a run in the side. However I think, Parkhead boss Rodgers’, should be looking for a centre half who is available to play in and has experience of playing in Europe.
I know that they cost money but if Celtic want to progress in Europe, whether that be in the Europa League this year or years to come in the Champions League, in my opinion they will need to spend it.
If you were looking for one fault of Brendan Rodgers at Celtic you could say it’s that he’s not signed a centre half to cope better in Europe, especially when you have a midfielder playing out of position to cover.
However when you consider that he’s only lost one domestic outing and is on course to complete a second successive treble, since his arrival in Glasgow in May 2016, it’s hard to be critical of the Northern Irishman.
