The Asian Cup is a competition that is causing a serious headache for Celtic manager, Brendan Rodgers.
The Hoops boss has already admitted that he is looking at the January window with the competition in mind.
But with Celtic set to lose at least four first-team players including Kyogo Furuhashi, the fans will be keeping their fingers crossed that Rodgers is set to splash plenty of Celtic’s cash reserves to keep their title charge on track.
And Chris Sutton has suggested that there is a player at Leicester City that Rodgers could look to do a deal for in January to help shore up the striking department.
Sutton said [Daily Record], “A lot is made about Celtic having £70m in the bank. There are plenty of English clubs who’ve blown that on one or two duds.
“It’s extremely difficult for my old club. I look at someone like Patson Daka who is not getting much of a game at Leicester City in the Championship.
“He scored shed loads at Red Bull Salzburg and would more than fit the bill. But there’s no way Celtic could afford him unless it was a loan deal with Leicester being charitable with the wage split.”
Patson Daka Celtic striker?
Daka is a Zambian international striker with 35 caps and 12 goals to his name. The 25-year-old signed for Leicester City in 2021 for £23m.
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Let’s get the elephant out of the room right away. In terms of making the deal financially viable, a loan would probably suit both parties as Celtic couldn’t afford to pay the money Leicester would be looking to recuperate if they let him go.
In terms of wages, Daka’s salary dropped from £79k per week to £49k per week after Leicester were relegated from the English Premier League last season. [Salary Sport]
So this is a deal Celtic certainly could afford to do if they wished.
In terms of a goalscorer, Daka’s overall record is fairly decent. In 230 career appearances, he has scored 91 times and created 42.
His 68 goals for Red Bull Salzburg encouraged The Foxes to splash the cash on him but he has since failed to recapture that goalscoring form.
In 75 appearances for Brendan Rodgers’ old side, the versatile Daka, who can also play on both wings, has scored just 15 goals but in this season alone he has only featured twice for the English Championship side.
However, he is a serial winner. With four Austrian titles and three Austrian Cups to his name, Daka has also won the Community Shield in England, the UEFA Youth League and the u20 Africa Cup. [Transfermarkt]
Like Sutton says, a loan deal is more likely should Celtic decide Daka is their man but his recent form doesn’t fill me with much hope that he is the answer to the Kyogo Furuhashi problem.
In other news, ‘Doesn’t quite understand’… Callum Davidson says £2m summer signing is still struggling with Celtic’s system