DONE DEAL: Celtic land new “extremely interesting striker” £29k-p/w ace, he could be Edouard 2.0
DONE DEAL: Celtic land “extremely interesting” £29k-p/w ace, he could be Edouard 2.0
The January transfer window has been open for more than two weeks now and Celtic are yet to dip into
the market to bolster their playing squad ahead of the second half of the season.
However, that does not mean that there has not been a lot of work going on behind the scenes as
Brendan Rodgers and the recruitment team look to add to the group before next month’s deadline.
The Scottish Premiership leaders have reportedly lodged an enquiry over the possibility of a deal to bring
Aston Villa winger Louie Barry to the squad.
Celtic are also reportedly interested in a swoop to bring LAFC attacking midfielder Mateusz Bogusz to
Parkhead, after they failed to land his services in the summer transfer window.
It was recently reported by Sky Sports that the Hoops are close to signing Kieran Tierney on a
pre-contract agreement to return to Glasgow for a second spell when his deal at Arsenal expires in the summer.
As well as a winger, an attacking midfielder, and a left-back,
Celtic are also said to be looking at a potential move to bring another striker to the club this month.
Celtic keen on new striker
This suggests that Celtic will need to convince Lille to part ways with the centre-forward before
the end of the window, before then convincing the player to decide to make the move to
Scotland rather than to another side in Ligue 1, or in Italy or Spain.
If they can get a deal over the line for the 26-year-old star in the coming weeks then they could repeat the
blinder they played the last time a rarely-used striker came over to Parkhead from a Ligue 1 club to
Foot Mercato, the Scottish giants are one of a number of teams interested in a possible swoop to sign Lille
centre-forward Mohamed Bayo to bolster their options at the top end of the pitch.
The report claims that SCO Angers, Royal Antwerp, Como,
and Las Palmas are also eyeing up a move for the 26-year-old marksman,
with Celtic also lining up a deal for the Guinea international.
It states that Como and Las Palmas have already made enquiries about a swoop for the striker,
whilst Marseille and Metz have considered taking the attacker on loan for the second half of the
2024/25 campaign.
Foot Mercato adds, however, that the uncertainty over Jonathan David’s future at the club has made them reluctant to part ways with Bayo in the January transfer window, which has put the forward in a difficult position.
The former Clermont Foot marksman wants to play regular football and is open to moving on from Lille to play week-in-week-out, as he has only started three matches in Ligue 1 this term.
Odsonne Edouard’s time at Celtic
Celtic initially signed Odsonne Edouard on loan from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2017 after he had only started four Ligue 1 matches in the 2016/17 campaign on loan with Toulouse.
The French marksman thrived after being given the opportunity to play regular football in Scotland and ended the 2017/18 campaign with a return of 11 goals in 29 matches in all competitions.
That convinced the Hoops to splash out a club-record fee of £9m to sign Edouard on a permanent deal from PSG in the summer of 2018, which turned out to be a terrific piece of business by the Scottish giants in the long run.
As you can see in the graphic above, the record signing for Celtic went on to produce 125 goal contributions in 179 appearances for the club in all competitions, winning four titles in five years.
In the summer of 2021, Premier League side Crystal Palace swooped in to sign the marksman for a reported fee of £14m, which could rise to £18.5m, and this meant that the club made a significant profit on the forward, whilst also getting five years of terrific service out of him.
Celtic could find their next Edouard by raiding Ligue 1 once again to sign Bayo this month, because his form from previous seasons suggests that the potential is there for him to be a big success in Glasgow.
Why Celtic should sign Mohamed Bayo
The £29k-per-week striker joined Lille from Clermont Foot in the summer of 2022 and has only managed seven goals in 45 appearances for the club to date.
Bayo also scored five goals in 22 Ligue 1 matches on loan at Le Harve in the 2023/24 campaign during that time, which shows that the attacker has struggled to score goals on a consistent basis in recent years.
The 26-year-old star, who was once described as an “extremely interesting” player by talent scout Jacek Kulig, had previously shown plenty of potential to be a lethal scorer during his two seasons as a first-team regular with Clermont Foot.
| 21/22 Ligue 1 | Mohamed Bayo |
|---|---|
| Appearances | 27 |
| Goals | 14 |
| Big chances missed | 11 |
| Big chances created | 6 |
| Assists | 5 |
| Stats via Sofascore | |
As you can see in the table above, Bayo showcased his finishing quality in Ligue 1 in the 2021/22 campaign, leading to his move to Lille, by scoring 14 goals and only missing 11 ‘big chances’ in 27 matches.
Kyogo Furuhashi, the first-choice striker at Celtic this season, has scored ten goals and missed a whopping 17 ‘big chances’ in the Premiership, which suggests that the Lille outcast could come in as an upgrade on him from a finishing perspective if Rodgers can help him to get back to his best.
Bayo also racked up an eye-catching return of 22 goals and nine ‘big chances’ created in 34 starts in Ligue 2 during the 2020/21 campaign, almost a goal or a ‘big chance’ created every start on average.
This means that the Celtic target scored 36 goals and created 15 ‘big chances’ in those two seasons combined, which shows that the potential is there for him to make a huge impact in the final third – as Edouard did – if the Hoops bring him in and offer regular game time to him in the second half of this season.
It would be a big game for the Scottish giants, given his struggles for game time and form in recent years, but it is a worthwhile one when you consider the quality that they could get from Bayo if he gets back to the form that was on display for Clermont Foot.
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