As the Rumor Mill Turns

By: JT | January 16th, 2008

The January transfer window has nearly reached its halfway point, and Celtic have fared pretty well. Addressing the revolving door at right back had to be priority number one, and the signing of German international Andreas Hinkel should fill that void quite nicely.

Japanese midfielder Koki Mizuno might take a while to adapt to the rigors of the Scottish game, but he will certainly add some further depth to the midfield once he joins in February.

The hot rumor lately has been that Celtic are looking to sign a central defender, and disappointingly, WGS says he can foresee only one more signing this transfer window. Those plans could change of course, if any club makes a move for a current Celt.

Two players that were in the frame to make the move to Glasgow only a few days ago appear to be off the table.

Bayern Munich’s towering Belgium international Daniel Van Buyten has opted to stay in Bavaria after talking to incoming coach Jurgen Klinsmann. DVB is not in current coach Ottmar Hitzfeld’s plans this term, but the stunning California blonde says he wants the big man around for next year.

Now I didn’t have my heart set on seeing DVB in the Hoops or anything like that, and considering Bayern ruled out a loan move prior to these Klinsmann revelations, Van Buyten has basically agreed to ride the pine for the next few months in anticipation of Klinsmann’s arrival. Maybe the loan move will be back on the table now, but a future coach influencing current players six months before he takes over just seems a little strange to me, but I’m assuming he proceeded with the Bayern brass’ consent.

The agent of recently despatched Brazilian right-back Coelho has launched a brutal verbal assault on Celtic and Scottish football in general. He’s pissed because he feels a player like Coelho is above a trial at a lowly club like Celtic, in a footballing backwater like Scotland. Funny, he advised the player to go on trial, and the player couldn’t cut it, so what’s he really going on and on about?

I can’t answer that, but the agent also represents another Celtic target, Hertha Berlin’s central defender Josip Simunic. I guess that deal won’t be happening any time soon.

On a bit of a disappointing note, promising Icelandic midfielder Teddy Bjarnason has left Celtic for Norway’s Lyn Oslo. The 20-year-old had signed a contract extension this summer, but couldn’t see his way beyond the current depth in midfield to earn a berth in the first team.

Teddy got one start with the big Bhoys at the tail end of the 06/07 campaign, and performed well during Celtic’s pre-season tour of Switzerland. But when you look at the way that the young midfield has been playing of late as well the aforementioned addition of Mizuno, you can sympathize with Teddy’s position. Good luck to him in the future, its just a shame all that potential will be realized somewhere other than Celtic Park.

Has there been a conscious effort to move away from developing talent for the first team to buying first team talent for immediate impact? When you see someone like Teddy bolt so quickly after signing a new deal, you really have to consider the answer to that question.