Neil Lennon reportedly wants to bring Tommy Johnson back to Celtic as a scout but could the Scottish Premiership champions raid Forest or Watford?
As any Celtic fan will tell you, the Premiership champions haven’t exactly been an unqualified success the transfer market during the last few seasons.
Former head of recruitment Lee Congerton will forever be tainted by the disastrous Marvin Compper saga while his replacement Nicky Hammond is yet to win over supporters with the jury out on Boli Bolingoli and Chrstopher Jullien.
And according to the Scottish Daily Mail (28 August, back page), Neil Lennon is hoping to make a change by bringing his former Hoops team-mate Tommy Johnson back to Parkhead as a scout, just four months after he was appointed behind the scenes at Nottingham Forest.
Johnson also has spells at Watford, Cardiff and Notts County on his CV – but could he turn to a few players he knows well if he teams up with Lennon again?
Daryl Murphy
Nine years ago, Neil Lennon made Daryl Murphy’s dream come true.
As reported by the Telegraph, the then-Sunderland striker joined his childhood club for a fee of £800,000 and, while he might have failed to replace Robbie Keane or reach his 20-goal target, perhaps Johnson could convince Lennon to hand a boyhood Hoops fanatic a second chance on the green half of Glasgow.
Now 36, Murphy is part of Sabri Lamouchi’s infamous ‘bomb squad’ at the City Ground but he still has a lot to offer, albeit on a short-term basis. Excellent in the air, this old-school number nine would give The Hoops the option of going direct in things are getting a little desperate.
Alexander Milosevic
An established Sweden international who shone in the second half of last season under Martin O’Neill, Milosevic finds himself strangely out of favour under Lamouchi.
The 27-year-old hasn’t featured in any of Forest’s five Championship games under the former Rennes boss with his ongoing absence leaving supporters scratching their heads in bewilderment.
But if Milosevic has no part to play at the City Ground, a proven winner who has celebrated league titles with Besiktas and AIK Stockholm would certainly give Celtic plenty of height, experience and leadership at the heart of a defence which continues to look a little vulnerable.
Marvin Zeegelaar
The situation is a simple one for Zeegelaar. If the former Ajax, Sporting Lisbon and Espanyol defender doesn’t want to spend the next few months stuck in Watford’s U23s, he needs to find a route out of Vicarage Road and fast.
An experienced left-back who has played in six different countries during a nomadic career, Zeegelaar could be in seventh heaven at Celtic.
The 29-year-old, who impressed in the Champions League at Sporting, is hardly an irrepressible attacking force like the dearly departed Kieran Tierney but he would be a reliable alternative to the swashbuckling yet erratic Boli Bolingoli.
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