Celtic could sign £7m “monster” new striker

The beginning of Celtic’s aggressive season is true across the nook.

Every week on Sunday, the Hoops start their Scottish Premiership title defence after they welcome St Mirren to Parkhead.

After that, they will journey to Pittodrie for a Scottish Cup Ultimate rematch in opposition to Aberdeen, whereas there’s loads extra for supporters to get enthusiastic about all through August, with an Outdated Agency derby at Ibrox and a Champions League play-off tie to come back later within the month.

Thus, with the brand new season quickly approaching, Brendan Rodgers is doubly desperate to get his new recruits over the road.

Celtic’s seek for a brand new centre-forward

Ever since Kyōgo Furuhashi was offered to Stade Rennais for a reported payment of £10m in January, the Hoops have been out there for a brand new striker.

Following final mid-week’s pre-season pleasant victory over Stade Rennais, Rodgers said that he desires “so as to add to our entrance line” having “misplaced lots of targets” in current months, provided that Nicolas Kühn has additionally departed for Como for round £16.5m.

By way of pure centre-forwards, Shin Yamada has arrived from Kawasaki Frontale for round £1.5m, so will problem Adam Idah for the beginning quantity 9 spot, however Rodgers will nonetheless need extra.

Mathias Kvistgaarden seemed to be their high goal since January, however he has as an alternative determined to affix Norwich Metropolis from Brøndby for a reported payment of £6.9m, leaving the Scottish champions trying to find an alternate.

Effectively, Rodgers does have earlier relating to unearthing unknown strikers as Celtic supervisor, specifically signing Moussa Dembélé 9 years in the past, so might he be about to do one thing comparable?

Might Celtic signal a highly-rated younger striker?

As Celtic scour far and huge for a brand new striker, Sky Sports activities pundit Don Goodman claims they need to go all in and signal Richard Kone from Wycombe Wanderers.

He believes, ought to he make the transfer to Glasgow, Kone “would thrive massively at that degree” including, provided that Celtic “dominate video games and create possibilities”, he would rating loads of targets.

Again in January, Luton City had a £6m bid rejected by the Chairboys for Kone, based on Pete O’Rourke of Soccer Insider, prone to price much more than that now.

To assist this, per week in the past, it was documented that Celtic have an curiosity in Kone, with the younger marksman believed to be value round £7m.

Talking on CBS’ Morning Footy, Wycombe legend Adebayo Akinfenwa famous that “if Hollywood was going to have a script for a narrative, this may be it”, provided that Kone arrived in England to signify Côte d’Ivoire on the Homeless World Cup in 2019.

He then represented Athletic Newham within the Essex Senior League, England’s ninth tier, for 5 years, earlier than being scouted and signed by Wycombe in January 2024, following an prolonged trial.

Effectively, what a discover this has proved to be, with the 22-year-old scoring 25 targets in 73 appearances for the Buckinghamshire-based EFL League One outfit, named each the division’s Participant and Younger Participant of the Season, having netted 18 instances within the league.

Let’s assess his statistics from League One final 12 months to underline why he scooped up each accolades.

Because the desk notes, solely two gamers, Charlie Kelman and Jay Stansfield, each of whom had been taking part in for golf equipment who obtained promoted, scored extra targets than Kone, whereas he ranked extremely for each attacking metric included.

His performances definitely impressed author Kai Watson, who labelled him a “mentality monster”, including that “aggression, positioning and work fee” are amongst his strengths.

So why might he be a repeat of Dembélé’s arrival from 2016?

Effectively, earlier than becoming a member of Celtic, the Frenchman had made simply 64 senior appearances for Fulham, the overwhelming majority of which had come at Championship degree, so few might’ve forecast that he burst onto the scene as he did, scoring 32 targets throughout his first season at Celtic, 5 of which got here within the Champions League.

Thus, there may be definitely precedent for a younger, inexperienced striker becoming a member of Celtic from the EFL and exploding right into a top-class centre-forward.

In case you’re not but satisfied by the déjà vu, hearken to this; Kone’s non-league Athletic Newham are based mostly on Atlético Madrid, they put on the identical equipment and their badge is nigh on an identical, and with whom did Dembélé win La Liga? You guessed it!