Scottish Premiership champions Celtic have joined Leeds United in the race to sign Hamburg’s Stephan Ambrosius in the New Year, as reported by BILD.
Perhaps the most damning conclusion that can be drawn from the humiliating 4-1 home loss to a second-string Sparta Prague side a few weeks ago is that it was no real surprise.
As the increasingly-disillusioned Celtic fan base will tell you, a thumping defeat like this had been coming for some time.
The Glasgow giants have conceded a remarkable 20 goals during a run of two wins in eight matches across all competitions.
It could have been a lot worse too if Motherwell and Aberdeen, the only teams Neil Lennon’s side have beaten since mid-October, had brought their shooting boots to the party.
An injury to Christopher Jullien certainly hasn’t helped, with Kristoffer Ajer yet to rediscover the form that caught the eye of AC Milan. And Shane Duffy, the boyhood Hoops fanatic signed on loan from Brighton, has been more Rafael Scheidt than Virgil van Dijk in green and white.
Whether a new defender can solve such a deep-rooted structural problem, with many critics pointing their fingers squarely at Lennon’s tactics rather than the personnel at his disposal, remains to be seen.
BILD reports that Hamburg’s highly-rated stopper Ambrosius is on Celtic’s radar after rejecting the chance to extend a contract that expires at the end of the current campaign (Hamburger Morgenpost).
A classy centre-half who boasts an 89 per cent pass completion rate, Ambrosius combines Ajer’s technical gifts with the aerial prowess and physicality of a Duffy.
Ambrosius makes 4.2 clearances a game on average.
Leeds are also allegedly interested in a defender who earned his first cap for the German U21s during the November international break (Ghana SoccerNet).
But new signings can only do so much in a system set up to fail and, unless Lennon rips up the blueprint and fast, Ambrosius will just be another cog in a malfunctioning machine.
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