Celtic have made three signings so far this month.
Pundit Davie Provan has told The Scottish Sun that he thinks Celtic are taking a major risk in the transfer market by focusing on unproven players.
The Bhoys went into the transfer window needing a host of new faces, having lost 1-0 to Rangers at Ibrox as the Scottish Premiership title race hots up.
Attacking reinforcements were needed, and Rodgers has done that by bringing in a wing and two strikers already this month.
Wide man Oliver Burke has come in on loan from West Bromwich Albion, whilst strikers Timothy Weah and Vakoun Issouf Bayo have signed from Paris Saint-Germain and Dunajska Streda respectively, with Weah signing on loan too.
Bayo is the only permanent signing so far, but many have pointed out that Celtic have mostly brought in experienced players – a far cry from Rangers going for experience in Jermain Defoe and Steven Davis.
Weah is just 18, whilst Burke and Bayo are 21 and 22 respectively. Weah and Burke have barely featured for their clubs this season, though Bayo has been in blistering form over in Slovakia.
Celtic are gambling on youthful exuberance under Rodgers, but it hasn’t gone down well with everybody connected to the Bhoys, such as pundit and ex-Bhoys winger Provan.
Provan has admitted his doubts about Weah and Burke, especially as the latter couldn’t get in a promotion-chasing West Brom side, and whilst he is pleased with the Bayo deal, he feels Celtic are taking a ‘hell of a risk’ given that they haven’t signed a top centre-half yet.
“Listen, for all I know, Timothy Weah might have the DNA to shoot the lights out in Scotland,” said Provan. “But if you’re looking for consistency, you don’t turn to an 18-year-old. You pay what it takes for the tried and trusted. Oli Burke’s another gamble. At 21, he’s not the finished article and will only improve under Rodgers. But with West Brom in the thick of a promotion battle, why would Baggies boss Darren Moore allow Burke to leave The Hawthorns?”
“At 22, Vakoun Issouf Bayo looks a safer bet on the evidence of his numbers in the Slovakian league. Already an Ivory Coast cap, the striker shouldn’t find our Premiership beyond him. But if these youngsters are the only business Celtic are doing, they are taking one hell of a risk. And yet, bizarrely, the obvious need for a proper centre-half has been ignored,” he added.
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