Celtic eventually won the race for the striker – although they may wish they hadn’t.
Just two years ago, making a move for Dundee United striker Nadir Ciftci appeared a no-brainer. The Turkish striker had scored almost 30 goals in two seasons in the Scottish Premiership and, according to the BBC, Championship trio Huddersfield Town, Charlton Athletic and Norwich City were all tracking his progress.
Yet, two years on, they will not be losing any sleep over Celtic completing the eventual swoop for Ciftci in the summer of 2015. The 25-year-old has managed only four goals in 26 games for The Bhoys and, after being excluded by Brendan Rodgers for the whole first half of the season, has continued to struggle on loan at Polish minnows Pogon Szczecin.
In six games, he is yet to register a goal, an assist or even a victory.
Therefore, the reportedly interested Championship clubs may have dodged a bullet. The BBC report that Huddersfield, Charlton and Norwich all sent scouts to watch Ciftci in action ahead of the January transfer window, only for Dundee United’s chairman to claim that they would not accept any less than £3million for their star striker.
These days, however, Huddersfield are third in the Championship and have recently completed the signing of German forward Elias Kachunga, the Terriers’ top scorer and an essential component of their attacking game plan, for a third of the price it would have cost them to buy Ciftci.
Norwich, meanwhile, are hardly lacking in Championship quality forwards with Cameron Jerome and Nelson Oliveira netting 22 goals between them this season.
Even Charlton, currently just five points above the League One drop zone, will not regret missing out.
Ciftci would surely find goals easier to come by in the third tier but the Addicks could certainly do without having to pay his wages on a weekly basis.
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