 |
A BHOYS SUMMER, TRANFER NEWS AND GOSSIP...PT III |
The final piece on Celtic's summer of coming and goings in the transfer market...A BHOYS SUMMER LATEST TRANSFER NEWS & GOSSIP...PART III Another transfer window has closed and in the east-end of Glasgow the activity by Celtic was anything but exciting, or expensive. Five new signings were made by Peter Lawwell and Gordon Strachan, three of those were new faces. Greek striker Georgios Samaras returned from Euro 2008 to pen a permanent deal as he impressed after his end of season loan deal from Manchester City. Shaun Maloney re-signed for the club he left a little over 18 months ago for Aston Villa. In a reported move costing Celtic £2.5m, Maloney penned a four year contract, taking a wage cut in the process, to play again for his beloved hoops. Glen Loovens, the Dutch centre-half also joined up at Parkhead, on a four year contract for a reported fee of £2.5m from Cardiff City. Young Barcelona starlet Marc Crosas signed on at Celtic Park, for a reported £1m fee, a complicated contract which has a buy back clause for the Catalan giants should Crosas exceed both clubs expectations. But like Maloney, Loovens and Celtic’s first summer signing Paddy McCourt, it remains to be seen if Crosas can find a place in the first teams starting line-up?! Celtic set out this transfer period needing urgent cover at the troubled left-back position, and have ended it with nothing to show for all the effort apparently put in. Also another striker and some creative midfielder would have been welcomed but is now amiss, until January. On the way out of Parkhead, Thomas Gravesen was finally removed from the wage bill as he accepted a pay-off to terminate his contract. Derek Riordan made a last day switch back to Hibernian in a reported, £250,000 deal, ending a nightmare two years for the youngster, as he fell quickly out of manager Gordon Strachan’s plans. Evander Sno followed said players out of Celtic Park as he clinched a move to Dutch giants Ajax, in a £1m move. The transfer was complete as Sno arrived back from his stint with the Dutch football squad at this years Beijing Olympics. So as the hoops look to retain their League Championship and continue their good form in the UEFA Champions League, it remains to be seen if the new faces and old hands can boost the current Celtic first team, to headier heights… By G.MacIsaac. HAIL! HAIL! Click to view author Garry MacIsaac's profile Fancy writing for LiveFootball? Click here to find out more. |