January Transfer Wishlist

The transfer rumour mill is well and truly powering up and Celtic have been linked with deals for three rising Premier League stars in the last 24 hours.

Brendan Rodgers has been transparent about his desire to add firepower to his ranks next month despite things going swimmingly for him so far. He's lacking a third choice striker to offer depth beyond Kyogo and Adam Idah, but more pressing is perhaps the need for more reliable options out wide. Luis Palma isn't fancied and, with James Forrest injured, it leaves the unconvincing Yang as the only senior winger beyond Nicolas Kuhn and Daizen Maeda.

It seems Rodgers is on the lookout for players who can wear a few hats and Carney Chukwuemeka is a name who just won't go away to that effect. He's primarily an attacking midfielder who can play out wide and Football Insider say both he and his Chelsea teammate Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, a more traditional holding midfield player, are of interest to the Hoops.

It's claimed Celtic are 'monitoring' both players who are firmly out of favour at Stamford Bridge. Chukwuemeka, a £15m signing from Aston Villa in 2022, has been limited to Conference League and League Cup football this season, while 26-year-old Dewsbury-Hall set them back £30m from Leicester in the summer but has managed just 15 appearances all in.

Elsewhere it's also claimed Celtic retain an interest in Man City talent James McAtee. He's been on the fringes of things under Pep Guardiola this season but has found it difficult to break in even despite their dire form leaving the defending champions seventh in the table. A similar profile to Chukwuemeka, he was linked with the Hoops in 2023, Rodgers aware of his talents from his own time managing in the Premier League.

He spent last season on loan at Sheffield United but TBR say that Celtic are in a long queue of clubs, which includes five Premier League sides as well as Bayer Leverkusen, RB Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund and Atalanta, who are keen on the 22-year-old.

How likely are deals for Chukwuemeka, Dewsbury-Hall and McAtee?
All three? Highly unlikely. Individually? That's where it gets interesting.

Of the three, Chukwuemeka appears to have the most legs, this January at least. He's been linked for weeks now and appears to be most in need of a move away, having stagnated for almost two years at Chelsea since his big move from Aston Villa. The Stamford Bridge side have stockpiled talent and the former England youth cap will be looking for somewhere he can get back to playing regularly. A loan deal, perhaps with a buy option in the summer that would see Chelsea recover the chunky end of their investment, doesn't look an impossibility by any means. Of the three, he's the most natural fit for a wide position which makes him the best suited to fill the gaps Rodgers needs.

His Chelsea teammate Dewsbury-Hall looks the least likely of the trio. Having been the standout player of Leicester's Championship charge last season and, at 26 and nearing his peak years, a move to Scotland perhaps wouldn't appeal in the same way it would to one of the younger players. Another Premier League club, ore one near the top of the English Championship, looks the most likely option for him.

Man City star McAtee meanwhile was linked in the past and appears a natural alternative to Chukwuemeka. He's an outright No.10 and perhaps not as suited to playing off the flank, but has done so in the past and his creativity in the middle of the park could give them something they haven't really had since Matt O'Riley left - Paulo Bernardo and Arne Engels not racking up the numbers the Dane managed in his stunning final season. Now 22 the time may be right for him to leave City permanently, and with his contract up in 2026, City will be having a think over his future if he's not going to be featuring any time soon. He's another one who may suit a loan with a buy option.

 

Would absolutely love McAtee here but would do we really play with an attacking midfielder now?

I’ve never seen the boy from Chelsea play and I don’t think there is any chance we sign Dewsbury-Hall.

 

Lots of loaners getting linked - unless option to buy at good price or absolutely stellar players, we shouldn't bother.
January loan only deals are high risk and can upset squad harmony if only here for effectively 4 months.
Only really worth it if you are up against it and struggling (ie Bellamy, Robbie Keane), which we obviously aren't.

Do you put the young Chelsea lad in ahead of Maeda or Kuhn?

 

Totally agree. If we get an even bigger lead in the league that’s when the Cummings, Bonnar, frame’s need to start getting appearances….not loans

 

However, the Northern Irishman stressed that he is keen to strengthen his squad even further during the January transfer window and improve their chances of landing more domestic silverware and enjoying further European success in 2025.

Asked if he would try to increase the options available to him in the coming weeks, he said: “We hope so. I think I always like to add goals to my teams in January where I can, to add that threat and that freshness to the squad.

“We were able to do that last January with Nicolas [Kuhn] and Adam [Idah], which was great for us. We'll look to do the same.

“If I look at it now, 12 months on to where we were this time last year, we are in a really, really good place. However, we want to keep improving. So, we hope to be able to do that.


Champions League knockout round play-offs and can complete a ninth domestic treble if they land the Premiership and Scottish Cup in the second half of the 2024/25 campaign.

But asked if he could categorically state that none of his players are for sale in January, Rodgers said: “To be honest, I don't need to say anything. I just relax and work with the players and we want to improve the squad and whatever happens, happens.

“So, I'm not committing to anything. My focus is just on developing the players we have, improving the squad and at the moment that's going well.”

 

on the cusp of reaching the knock-out stages of the Champions League, there is a school of thought that Brendan Rodgers does not need to do much business during the winter transfer window.

The Celtic manager, however, thinks otherwise. Always keen to evolve his squad every six months, Rodgers has admitted that he wants to add firepower to a burgeoning armoury that includes Kyogo Furuhashi, Adam Idah, Daizen Maeda and Nicolas Kuhn


He will - temporarily, at least - have one fresh striker to work with, as Johnny Kenny’s loan at Irish side Shamrock Rovers is due to expire in January. The 21-year-old has scored 13 goals in 29 appearances for the League of Ireland outfit, including strikes in the UEFA Conference League, and he may be given a chance to contribute for Celtic in the second half of the season, although Shamrock would like him back


It is safe to assume that when Rodgers spoke of enhancing his armoury, he was referring to more than just Kenny. What markets Celtic choose to dabble in remains to be seen, with the club flush with cash following the latest set of accounts. They have been persistently linked with Brondby’s 22-year-old hitman Mathias Kvistgaarden, who has scored ten times in 15 appearances this season. Antwerp’s 22-year-old winger Michel Ange-Balikwisha is another name that continues to crop up, although he picked up an injury in December.


More recently, there has been increasing speculation that Scotland defender Kieran Tierney could be in line for a return to Celtic Park, five-and-a-half years on from leaving his boyhood club for Arsenal. The 27-year-old is now fully fit after spending months on the sidelines with a hamstring injury, but with his contract expiring, it is understood that his time is set to be up at the Gunners. Rodgers knows Tierney very well from his first stint at Celtic and there is no doubt that the Scotland defender would enhance his squad.



The extent of Celtic’s transfer business in January could be dependent on whether they are tempted to cash in on some of their prized assets. Kuhn - an arrival in the last winter window for just under £3 million - has been in exceptional form this term and is said to be on the longlists of many clubs in England, while midfielder Reo Hatate has been admired by outfits across the continent for some time now and key centre-half Cameron Carter-Vickers is supposedly on Bayer Leverkusen’s radar. It is not beyond the realms of possibility that Celtic may field offers for the trio - but there is very little pressure to sell right now after Matt O’Riley departed for a fee in excess of £25m to Brighton in August.


Right-back Alistair Johnston had been catching the eye of bigger clubs with his performances for Celtic, but a recent contract extension will ward off any predators. However, defence is an area where Celtic may offload: centre-half Maik Nawrocki has fallen well down the pecking order and is fifth choice behind Carter-Vickers, Auston Trusty, Liam Scales and Stephen Welsh


Left-back Greg Taylor is entering the final six months of his contract and was linked on Tuesday with Dinamo Zagreb. It remains to be seen whether a new deal for him will be forthcoming. Norwegian midfielder Odin Thiago Holm is a reported target for LAFC in the United States and unlike Taylor, is not in the first-team plans. He would be allowed to move if the right suitor comes in.

Celtic are in the luxurious position of not needing to do any business - but that may not stop them as Rodgers strives to make his all-conquering domestic champions even stronger

 

So basically everyone then? Great piece of journalism