O’Neill might remodel £5m Celtic man into Parkhead’s personal Maswanhise

Offered Celtic win this surprising sport in hand later down the road, the hole on the Premiership summit might be diminished to only three factors, with the Scottish champions nonetheless very a lot within the combine to retain their crown.

Maybe that speaks to the failings of the 2 sides presently above them, but it surely stays outstanding that even after Brendan Rodgers‘ resignation and Wilfried Nancy’s 33-day catastrophe, the Hoops stay in a powerful place each domestically and in Europe.

A lot of that has been led by the brilliance of the nice Martin O’Neill, with the enigmatic 73-year-old bringing a quiet calm again to Parkhead, getting a tune out of a bunch of gamers who regarded all at sea beneath Nancy.

Now bolstered with 5 new January signings, all of whom have signed on mortgage, O’Neill has seen his aspect finish the window stronger than they began it, not least within the centre-forward ranks.

That being mentioned, the dearth of correct monetary funding within the squad will nonetheless grate on the Parkhead trustworthy, with Motherwell’s Tawanda Maswanhise maybe the lacking piece Celtic have been in want of.

How shut Maswanhise got here to becoming a member of Celtic

It was a window dominated, unsurprisingly, by centre-forward discuss in Glasgow, with Rangers ending deadline day with the signing of Ryan Naderi from Germany’s third tier, whereas Celtic snapped up Junior Adamu so as to add to Tomas Cvancara’s prior addition.

In each of these mortgage offers, nevertheless, the Hoops are banking on the pair reviving the shape they showcased in years passed by, with Cvancara scoring simply twice in Turkey within the first half of the season, whereas Adamu hasn’t impressed since scoring ten league objectives for Crimson Bull Salzburg in 2022/23.

For a lot of, Maswanhise was the one they wished, with the 23-year-old having been linked with a £5m transfer to Celtic Park, after main the way in which this season because the Premiership’s high scorer with 13 objectives.

Premiership confirmed, the ex-Leicester Metropolis man – who was additionally the topic of curiosity from Anderlecht – had regarded destined to depart Fir Park, albeit with supervisor Jens Berthel Askou admitting that his aspect had dismissed deadline day curiosity within the Zimbabwean.

Whether or not that curiosity had come from Celtic stays to be seen, albeit with it doubtlessly an opportunity missed, not least with that “excessive” curiosity within the younger striker, as Askou described it, solely set to extend if his kind continues earlier than the summer time.

For that reported determine of £5m, it would not precisely have been breaking the financial institution, even when there have been any doubts over Maswanhise’s relative inexperience at senior degree, having solely featured as soon as at Leicester earlier than shifting to Scotland in 2024.

Alas, Celtic’s squad is now what will probably be for the rest of the marketing campaign, with O’Neill needing to seek out some inner options.

Celtic might flip £5m flop into their very own Maswanhise

Celtic have pinned their centre-forward hopes on Cvancara and Adamu, with Kelechi Iheanacho additionally within the combine, though what about doubtlessly making an attempt to get a tune out of a participant the membership has already invested closely in?

Now, it have to be mentioned, the £5m seize of Michel-Ange Balikwisha hasn’t labored out to this point, with there maybe a way that these two new arrivals, alongside that of Joel Mvuka, have ended his hopes of normal sport time beneath O’Neill.

He is already been written off, and in a way that is rightly so, having supplied simply two assists and failed to attain following his summer time arrival from Royal Antwerp.

When he has featured, there’s been little of the participant who beforehand impressed in Belgium, the participant whom Rodgers hailed as “technically gifted“.

For all that being mentioned, an issue lies within the failure to choose his finest place, with Rodgers outlining that the left-wing needs to be his favoured position, albeit with O’Neill since stating that he is “undoubtedly not a wide-player“.

That confusion, coupled along with his stint away on AFCON responsibility, has not helped issues, but when given an opportunity, might he be Celtic’s personal full of life, versatile ahead, within the mould of Maswanhise?

Just like the Motherwell man, a part of Balikwisha’s enchantment is his potential to characteristic all throughout the frontline or as a quantity ten, having racked up 47 objectives and assists in 145 video games in all competitions for his former membership.

Like his Premiership counterpart, Balikwisha can be a slight, agile ahead who boasts explosive velocity if given the possibility to stretch a defence, with the pair boasting a comparatively comparable report of their respective leagues final season.

There is likely to be a way that the brand new Celtic man is one thing of a misplaced trigger, though within the case of Maswanhise, he scored simply six instances in all competitions final time period, having largely featured in Leicester’s youth ranks previous to that.

It has been a depressing six months for Balikwisha, however the DR Congo worldwide was signed for a cause, having beforehand been likened to ex-Crystal Palace hero, Wilfried Zaha, throughout his time at Commonplace Liege.

Just like the Ivorian, hopefully Balikwisha can nonetheless blossom right into a star of African soccer – very like Maswanhise – with O’Neill doubtlessly the person to have the ability to coax a string of shows out of him.

As already acknowledged, it is trying bleak for Celtic’s £5m man proper now, but having saved him round previous the deadline, he would possibly as effectively be given a last six months to impress.

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