Celtic didn’t secure a deal for Hibernian’s John McGinn this summer.
Celtic ended the summer transfer window by seeing Moussa Dembele leave the club for Lyon, but one man who didn’t get a move away was midfielder Eboue Kouassi.
The Bhoys cashed in on wantaway Dembele in a deal they ideally didn’t want to do, but having allegedly made Kouassi available, they couldn’t offload him before the deadline.
The Daily Record reported on deadline day that Kouassi had been made available for transfer, as having been told he could go out on loan, Celtic were believed to have told him he was free to go permanently.
With no suitors making their move and seemingly no spot for him at Celtic, Kouassi’s time at Parkhead is becoming somewhat bizarre, less than two years since Brendan Rodgers spent £3million luring the Ivorian from Krasnodar.
Kouassi is still only 20 and may become a success elsewhere, but the move to spend £3million on him in January 2017, and not go even close to that figure for Hibernian’s John McGinn this summer, looks more and more baffling.
Rodgers clearly wanted McGinn this summer, but Celtic were only willing to bid up to £2million (The Scottish Sun) before Aston Villa paid £2.75million to sign him from Hibs last month, ending the saga with Celtic.
It beggars belief that Celtic were so ready to spend £3million on an unproven punt in Kouassi, given that he has barely been given a chance to shine with Celtic before being told he can leave.
When a proven Scottish Premiership talent with his best years ahead of him was available for a similar price, Celtic wouldn’t stump up the cash – and the differing trajectories of Kouassi and McGinn sum up why Bhoys fans, and even boss Rodgers, are frustrated with the club’s transfer business of late.
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