Celtic focused some of their energy on deadline day on getting a new goalkeeper through the door.
Simon Eastwood
Brendan Rodgers’ hopes for a fairly quiet final few days of the window were scuppered when Craig Gordon picked up an injury towards the end of the month that Sky Sports reports will keep him out for the next 12 weeks.
Signing a new goalkeeper immediately became one of the priorities, and they ultimately managed it by bringing Bain in from Dundee on loan for the rest of the campaign, but Sky Sports reports that they also failed in a bid to bring Eastwood to the Scottish Premiership.
Sky Sports adds that Oxford had no intention of selling any of their key players so Eastwood – who has made 30 appearances in League One this season – stayed, and Celtic turned to their top flight rivals.
Could Celtic return for Eastwood in the summer?
Sky Sports adds that Celtic plan to review their goalkeeper situation at the end of the season. And, even though Gordon should be fit by then, it is no surprise with the Scotsman and Dorus De Vries boasting a combined age of 72.
It remains to be seen whether Eastwood will remain on their radar. While an enquiry would have had to have been rushed due to Gordon’s injury, it is certainly interesting that they targeted a stopper who has played every game in the league this season.
Their move for Bain made sense with the stopper looking set to be Hibernian’s backup option, so doing a deal may not have been too difficult to pull off. But with Eastwood so integral to Oxford’s team this season, they must have known that it was always going to be difficult to make something happen at that stage of the month, and thus, they would have had to have paid more.
So by pursuing Eastwood, they have arguably hinted that they were doing more than simply attempting to panic buy, so perhaps a fresh move in the summer may not be out of the question.
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