Kenny Crawford
In the eyes of Celtic and Rangers fans, the ongoing battle between green and blue did not cease when the Scottish Premier League title was won by Rangers in May. There may have been a World Cup, but to the Old Firm faithful that was merely a commercial break before the bell rang once more to signal the next round of sparring. The venue for current bout is the transfer market, and at this juncture it is Celtic who are landing all the big blows.
Upon his confirmation as new Celtic manager following an epic ‘will he be or won’t he be’ saga, Neil Lennon has wasted no time in thrusting himself into the task of new player recruitment. On the other hand, Walter Smith at Rangers seems to have had no choice but to allow prized players to leave for some much needed cash, with no concrete hopes as yet of signing anyone of major repute.
Lennon’s first summer signing was all about bringing a boyhood Bhoy back to his roots. Charlie Mulgrew had come through Celtic’s youth system before being a make-weight in the deal that brought Lee Naylor to Celtic Park from Wolves. Like Naylor at Celtic, Mulgrew never really proved himself at Molineux and subsequently took the chance of a Scottish Premier League lifeline offered to him by Aberdeen. Two impressive seasons at Pittodrie, albeit from his left foot set piece threats more than his defending, has seen the left back seal a dream switch back to the Parkhead club. Celtic’s fans will watch Mulgrew’s second stint at Parkhead with interest.
Lennon’s next swoop was not such a familiar face. Going into the World Cup, very little criticism could be levelled at any Celtic supporter unable to rhyme off a third South Korean national team member in addition to their own Ki Sung-Yong and Manchester United’s Park Ji-Sung. However, now they can do just that, for Lennon announced the international right back Cha Du-Ri as the club’s second close season acquisition. This should now pave the way for the German Andreas Hinkel to depart if Celtic receive a favourable offer.
While Celtic were welcoming their new full back double-act, Rangers waved farewell to star striker Kris Boyd. The 26-year-old, who scored over 100 goals for the Ibrox side, eventually left for free at the end of his contract to join Gordon Strachan’s Scottish revolution at Championship side Middlesbrough.
Perhaps the most surprising of Celtic’s new employees so far though has been young Welsh starlet Joe Ledley. Clearly, a club with the world renown that Celtic has have more right than most to appeal to such players, but many were mystified as to how what seemed a certain transfer to the English Premier League did not transpire. Ledley’s name was commonplace on gossip columns over the last couple of seasons, yet when it came to the crunch, only Stoke City from England’s top flight made an approach. Roma too were also overlooked in favour of Parkhead.
The departure of Artur Boruc from Celtic showed that not all the notable losses were in the blue half of the city however. Serie A outfit Fiorentina are the club to take the Polish international goalkeeper on board after he had spent five years with the Scottish side. Their ready made replacement, Lukasz Zaluska, another Pole, will now get his chance to make the No.1 jersey his own.
Within 24 hours of Boruc’s departure, Lennon gave Celtic’s supporters a little pick-me-up in the shape of Irish forward Daryl Murphy. The ex-Sunderland front man has never been a prolific scorer of goals, but much value will be placed on his international, Premier League and Championship experience as the Hoops strive to stop Rangers winning a third league title in a row in 2010/11.
A few days later the mood at Ibrox was dampened further by another two departures. This time it was combative midfielder Kevin Thomson and promising defender Danny Wilson heading for the exit door. Like his former team-mate Boyd, Thomson opted for a transfer to Middlesbrough which saw Rangers collect a much needed £2M. Meanwhile, Wilson drew a line under many months of speculation by finally signing for Liverpool. For Wilson, Rangers again received £2M up front, and that could rise to £5M if various ‘add-ons’ are fulfilled.
North America, more specifically Mexico, was the origin of Lennon’s fifth capture to date. Efrain Juarez had a solid, if unspectacular, World Cup with El Tri. The right-sided midfielder came on as a half time substitute in the tournament opener against hosts South Africa and went on to feature in his country’s three further games. The ex-Barcelona B player has expressed his delight at signing for a club of the stature of Celtic and fans will look forward to the energy and flair he brings to the table.
Even more recently, Celtic have added more new faces by shelling out £2.4M for the highly-rated Scunthorpe striker, Gary Hooper, and Israeli midfielder Biram Kayal. The 22-year-old Hooper, who averaged a goal every two games in his time at Glanford Park, will add another dimension to Lennon’s attacking options alongside Georgios Samaras, Marc-Antoine Fortune and Daryl Murphy. Kayal meanwhile will further increase the already fierce competition for midfield spots at Parkhead.
As the start of August approaches it appears that Celtic have got a few more rounds in them on the recruiting front yet. While Rangers seem to be finally lifting themselves off the ropes as speculation of fresh faces finally gains momentum. The Ibrox club have some catching up to do, but will take heart from the fact that just as certainly as football matches are not won on paper, they are also rarely won at new player press conferences either.
