Celtic Report (Part 2)

Celtic has also had an offer for Dundee's 17-year-old starlet midfielder, Kevin McDonald rejected. The £75,000 bid, which could have risen to £125,000, was considered by the First Divison clubs board was said to be quickly rejected. McDonald, who has two years left on his current contract, made 33 appearances for Dundee this season. A Dundee source said: "The offer was swiftly rejected. If they want to offer a million pounds, that's fine. They started it, not us." It looks like Strachan and Lawell have a busy time ahead of them as they look to strengthen the squad in order to retain the SPL title and put up a challenge in the Champions League.

However, Celtic could be heading into the new campaign without the services of John Hartson, Neil Lennon, Roy Keane and Stillian Petrov, while the players Mo Camera, Stan Varga, Adam Virgo and Alan Thompson are expected to leave Celtic in the near future with Dion Dublin having already left the club. This situation is a worry for all Celtic fans.

Hartson had intended to see out the remaining year of his contract until reports claimed Celtic had accepted a £500,000 bid from West Brom, leaving his future in the balance. Peter Lawwell commented: “Over a number of years, John Hartson has been a great servant to Celtic and has made a fantastic contribution to the club. The club will not make any further comment at this time but as always, in relation to the movement of any players in or out of the club, as soon as something is definitive, then we will inform our supporters.” It looks highly probable that the Welsh striker has scored his last goal for the club.

Skipper Lennon has yet to put pen to paper on a new deal with the player seemingly unwilling to accept a sizeable wage cut for the second year in succession. Keane will undergo a scan on his troublesome hip injury before deciding if he has a future in the game and Petrov submitted an unsuccessful transfer request towards the end of last season with Portsmouth lurking to try and tempt the Bulgarian captain to the English Premiership. Nakamura is keen to play in La Liga and Seville look to give him this opportunity slower rather than later.

I’m sure all Celtic fans are desperate to see these players remain at Celtic and this in fact could be the real test for Strachan. The manager believes, “There is little point in trying to avert the inevitable and he added: “Players always decide their own future, whether they have or don’t have contracts. If they decide their future is elsewhere and that they can’t give it their best for the club, then fine. But nobody has got to that situation yet; I’ve not had to deal with that yet.”

Strachan also revealed: “We have about six or seven that we would like to go out on loan, but we need to decide on what’s the best time for them. That might be before or after the turn of the year, but we would probably be looking at putting two or three of them out at the one time.” David Marshall is the highest profile player to be expected to go out on loan to gain first team experience with a host of Scottish clubs linked while Derby County’s new boss Billy Davis is looking to bring Stephen Pearson to Pride Park.

Celtic head into the new season knowing they face tough competition in their defence of the SPL title from both Rangers and Hearts. We must also make an impact in the Champions League after falling at the first hurdle last year. The young players did well last season but Celtic are going to need to strengthen in a couple of positions and that means at least another two or three players before the transfer window closes. Lawell also shares this view and his stated: “Our supporters can rest assured that we are working hard to strengthen the squad for next season to face the domestic and Champions League challenges which lie ahead.”

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