OPINION
Celtic’s midfield could do with an extra body in January and Brendan Rodgers is hopefully already on the look-out for players who could potentially add further quality to his squad.
One player that Rodgers has to be keeping an eye on is Everton midfielder James McCarthy, who may well be on the move in the near future.
The 27-year-old midfielder has been out of action since January after suffering a broken leg while blocking a Salomon Rondon shot against West Brom, however according to the Mirror, he is close to returning to action.
McCarthy has not had a lot of luck in the last couple of years thanks to injuries and Marco Silva signed Andre Gomes in the summer transfer window who is going to force the Republic of Ireland international down the pecking order.
That means that McCarthy will go into the last year-and-a-half of his £50,000-a-week (Spotrac) contract in January potentially needing to find another club to prevent his career from completely stalling.
Celtic should be the club to take the midfielder on as he would be the perfect long-term replacement for Scott Brown in the midfield and for the time-being, he can be a quick fix to Rodgers’ lack of defensive-minded central players.
The Hoops’ midfield has been too easily bypassed by stronger teams this season with players like Olivier Ntcham failing to stand up to opposition players who are good on the ball, but McCarthy will be able to transform the midfield into one shields the back-four, while also having the quality to get the ball forward and kickstart attacks.
McCarthy will be a strong, rigid addition to the Celtic squad and once he is back up to full speed, he can be one of the best midfielders in the Scottish Premiership. which is why Rodgers must sign him in the January window.