Jack Colback has been left out of Newcastle United’s 25-man Premier League squad – should Celtic bring him to Parkhead?
Clubs in Scotland are interested in taking Jack Colback away from Newcastle United, according to The Chronicle, and Celtic should be one of them.
If The Hoops learned anything from last week’s disastrous Champions League collapse at the hands of Cluj, it’s that they are not only crying out for a replacement for Kieran Tierney with Callum McGregor trusted to start at left-back ahead of the already under-fire Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo.
34-year-old Scott Brown, too, was exposed again and again by a tenacious Cluj side and it feels that his ability to influence games against half-decent opposition is coming to an end.
So Colback, a player who still has plenty to offer at the age of 29, could solve not one but two problems in Neil Lennon’s squad.
The Newcastle misfit is a central midfielder by trade, a tough-tackling enforcer with the energy to get around the pitch with ease, win the ball back with a crunching challenge before starting attacks with his intelligent use of possession. Remind you of anyone?
And while no one in their right mind would even begin to compare Colback to the fleet-footed force of nature that is Tierney, the North East native did spend a lot of his time at Sunderland filling in effectively at left-back.
Now, Colback is not the sort of signing who is going to fire Celtic into the latter stages of the Europa League or blow Rangers away in the title race. But he’s a reliable, experienced leader; and that is three attributes Celtic appear to be lacking right now.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
