BBC Sportsound pundit Tam McManus has been left baffled after seeing that Celtic are reportedly closing in on signing free agent Youssouf Mulumbu.
According to the Daily Record, the Hoops are set to sign the 31-year-old former West Brom star on a two-year deal as Brendan Rodgers eyes late additions to his midfield.
However former Hibernian player McManus is not convinced by Celtic’s move to sign Mulumbu, even though the ex-DR Congo international was thoroughly impressive during his time at Kilmarnock last season.
“Mulumbu to Celtic is literally the most bizarre transfer ever. Why? Mind boggling that one for me,” said McManus on his personal Twitter account on Thursday afternoon.
https://twitter.com/The_Tman10/status/1035184084186742784
OPINION
It’s hard to see how this is a “bizarre” transfer. Mulumbu was quality for Kilmarnock last season and he is obviously being signed to add some extra strength in depth to the Celtic midfield, which has been left quite thread-bare since Stuart Armstrong left. Daniel Arzani is hardly a defensive-minded midfielder and Eboue Kouassi is just useless. Mulumbu has been a great box-to-box midfielder in his career. He was a big part of helping West Brom become mainstays of the Premier League, but injury issues and lack of fitness meant that he had to leave, and his problems at Norwich hardly improved. McManus’ only doubt should be over Mulumbu’s fitness, not his quality because he is an exceptional player on his day and as he has already proved at Kilmarnock, he is capable of performing in the big games. Rodgers should have probably signed him sooner because there is no way he will be up to speed in time for Sunday’s Glasgow derby, but it is still a solid addition.