Rivaldo Coetzee would have signed for Celtic if it wasn’t for a failed medical this summer.
With Celtic sitting comfortably at the top of the Scottish Premiership table, some of the hand-wringing surrounding their defensive injury problems this season look a little melodramatic.
After all, The Bhoys are still clear favourites to lift another league title and already have a trophy under their belt this season. Nonetheless, with Jozo Simunovic, Erik Sviatchenko and Dedryck Boyata all missing chunks of the season through injury, reports in the Scottish Sun that Celtic want a new defender in January make sense.
Though it appears that Rashid Sumaila, rather than Rivaldo Coetzee, looks most likely to be handed his big break in Europe.
Football Ghana reported on Monday that Brendan Rodgers’ side were eyeing Ghana international centre-back Sumaila, who plays for Kuwaiti side Al Qadsia and has piqued the interest of numerous British clubs following his fine displays this season.
And it seems that Celtic’s interest in Sumaila, who came close to joining his former Al-Gharafa boss Pedro Caixinha at Rangers in the summer (Daily Record), could signal the end of their move for Rivaldo Coetzee.
A South African international whose intelligence and composure in possession make him the archetypal Rodgers centre-back, the manager describing him as ‘outsanding’ back in August (The Sun), Coetzee would have swapped Ajax Cape Town for Celtic in August if it wasn’t for a failed medical, per the BBC.
But with Coetzee insisting that he wants to move to Europe as soon as possible, it appeared that Celtic would have no trouble getting their man so long as the 21-year-old proved his fitness.
Instead, however, it appears that another young, highly-rated African defender is on Celtic’s radar.
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