Richmond Boakye was previously a target for both Crystal Palace and Swansea City.
Celtic sent scouts to watch Red Star Belgrade in their goalless Champions League draw with Napoli on Tuesday night, according to the Daily Record. And there is one player in particular that jumps off the page; Richmond Boakye.
After all, the Ghanaian striker had been linked with a move to Celtic late in 2017 with The Mail claiming that they, along with a number of Premier League sides such as Chelsea, Swansea and Crystal Palace, were all interested.
At the time, former Juventus forward Boakye was one of the most in-form goalscorers anywhere in European football, netting 42 times for club and country in 2017 alone. Interest from Britain, then, made perfect sense.
2018, however, has been a far less successful year. Boakye struggled badly after swapping Red Star for Chinese Super League outfit Jiangsu Suning in February and, after just three goals in 15 games in the Far East, the 25-year-old returned to Serbia just a few months later for £1 million.
Though this should not put off Crystal Palace and Swansea. Both clubs are in need of a new goalscorer after all. Christian Benteke’s complete lack of form for Palace has been well documented while Swansea have scored just seven times in eight Championship games.
A return to Belgrade could see Boakye find his form again. He has already netted a brace in a 6-0 win recently, and he should not be written off for failing to adapt to a completely new league, culture and language in China.
Furthermore, Boakye’s dip in form means his price-tag could have dropped along with his reputation, meaning clubs of the stature of Palace and Swansea could face less competition for his signature.
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