Samaras & Mizuno In, Lafferty Out

By: JT | January 29th, 2008

Celtic have brought out-of-favor Manchester City striker Georgios Samaras to Parkhead in a loan move, with the Bhoys having the option of making the deal permanent.

The 6′4″ Greek international is looking to regain a place on his country’s roster ahead of the defense of their improbable Euro 2004 title later this summer in Switzerland and Austria.

When I first saw Samaras at Man City, I thought he looked the part, and would eventually become an important member of their first team squad.

But as time went by, he appeared lost on pitch, and void of confidence. That hasn’t changed much as he’s been relegated to fringe status on the Citizens’ squad. His final numbers at Man City are 55 appearances and 8 goals.

Now when he came to England, his price tag was £6m and he was coming off of scoring a highly respectable 29 goals in 88 matches with Dutch club Heerenveen. That kind of success obviously failed to be replicated in England, and a move to a level more commensurate with his current ability has taken place.

Its still unclear what this deal means for Kyle Lafferty. The big Burnley striker has impressed while playing for Northern Ireland, but not so much for his club. Despite this, Celtic are alleged to have offered £2.5m plus Derek Riordan.

That seems like quite a price to pay for a player who has scored eight times in seventy matches for a Championship club. Top that with the fact that he’s an admitted Rangers die-hard, and you have a striker that supporters won’t be too enthused to see in green-and-white.

The move for Samaras, who was also a target for the Huns, probably keeps Lafferty in the Championship, though Burnley remain optimistic that Celtic will return with an enhanced bid.

The way that Celtic’s front men have played this season, its was clear that help needed to arrive quickly.

While I’m not particularly enamored with either player, for the moment Samaras offers the better upside. He’s free, he’s played in a top league and has international experience. Like new Bhoy Andreas Hinkel, he’s hungry to regain a spot on his national team, which is usually a recipe for success. A change of scenery might just be the tonic that he needs to jump start his career again. And he’s only 22.

Koki Mizuno is officially a Celtic player. It’s been a near-certainty for a few weeks now and the deal is finally complete.

The 22-year old midfielder has been described as having the ball skills of countryman Shunsuke Nakamura and the pace/elusiveness of Aiden McGeady. He might take a while to adjust to Scottish football, but in time Celtic expect him to become a major contributor in all competitions.

My what a cosmopolitan squad Celtic have become. Samaras is the first Greek to pull on the Hoops, and another Japanese Bhoy is on the way. Times have changed quite a bit since the days when all of Celtic’s first team squad were from within 30 miles of Parkhead, haven’t they?

If anything new transpires over the course of the day, I’ll update here…