Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers was reportedly hoping to boost the Scottish Premiership champions’ XI by signing Piccini from Sporting Lisbon.
Celtic have one of the best left-backs in Britain in Kieran Tierney. On the right side, however, Brendan Rodgers is not blessed with the same quality.
Mikael Lustig is not the player he was at the age of 31, while Cristian Gamboa has barely been used by Rodgers during his two seasons at Parkhead. Unfortunately, however, it seems that Celtic have missed out on a player who would have represented an immediate upgrade on the Swedish and Costa Rican internationals.
The Mail claims that Rodgers wanted to bring in the Italian flyer Cristiano Piccini from Sporting Lisbon; a player who surely would have stood out in the top flight of Scottish football.
A speedy, swashbuckling full-back, the 25-year-old excelled in Spain with Real Betis before joining Sporting Lisbon last summer, helping the Portuguese giants reach the semi-finals of the Europa League.
But Celtic’s hopes were soon dashed. Piccini has instead returned to La Liga with Valencia this summer for a fee of £7 million, which is great value in today’s market for a player of his quality.
Piccini will be playing Champions League football with Los Che, after Marcelino Garcia Toral’s side qualified automatically for the group stages after finishing fourth in Spain last season.
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