Ronny Deila said himself he wants his squad size down this summer and he might just get his wish. It looks like we’re in for a busy summer and a decent amount of changeover. Lets have a look at players Celtic should look to off-load.
Mubarak Wakaso
Came in not knowing a lot about him and he’ll leave the club next month still not knowing much about him. He has pace and can score the odd good goal. Never given a run in the team due to injury and international duty. Came in with a bluster of other loans signings that haven’t worked out.
Aleksander Tonev
I’m not going to take into account the “Balance of probability” verdict against him but on the field he just hasn’t looked up to the task. A player we had scouted for many windows under Neil Lennon, we finally got him on-loan from Villa at the start of the season and he hasn’t impressed. Played here and there but there has always been better options for Celtic and he will return to England as another Celtic loanee who didn’t cut the mustard.
Charlie Mulgrew
The emergence of the Celtic team and Nir Bitton in Charlie’s absence leads me to the conclusion that it’s time for the utility man to move on in the summer. He has been a great servant for Celtic and for all his good traits his flaws in the middle of the field are a hindrance and to be quite frank there are plenty of players due a game before him. It would be best for both parties if Charlie moved on.
Anthony Stokes
Stokes has always put in a good shift for Celtic, helping out with goals and general link up play. However, he is not the type of player Ronny Deila is looking for and he’s been used less and less by the manager who doesn’t see Anthony as a long term solution. It would be best for the Irishman’s career to seek a move away.
Stefan Scepovic
He came in on the last few hours of the transfer deadline. Seemingly trying to manufacture a move elsewhere before turning up at Celtic Park. The striker has been behind Stokes, Guidetti and Griffith’s all season and has shown nothing in his appearances from the subs bench to suggest he is worth spending anymore time on. Celtic should look to move him on if there is any interest.
James Forrest
While there is a case for him not being at his best due to injury he has been at Celtic long enough now and he just isn’t consistent or fit enough to hold a regular spot down. He is a Ronny Deila type of player but you get 2 good games out of 10 with Jamesy and that just isn’t good enough. He will likely stay but he can’t afford another season like this one if he does.
These are just 6 names Celtic should look to offload this summer. We also have the likes of Teemu Pukki and Amido Balde to come back in from loan who Celtic should seek to move on along with Derk Boerrigter but these players hardly need a paragraph to say why they should be moving on. Between them and players that look likely to leave like Denayer, van Dijk and Guidetti, it’s going to be a big summer for Celtic as Ronny moves on to phase 2 of his master plan. There are certainly some players ready to step up though with Liam Henderson impressing out at Rosenborg. It’s going to be interesting times.
