OPINION
Celtic must make an audacious attempt to sign Galatasaray centre-back Ozan Kabak in the January transfer window after it was reported that the 18-year-old will be available for a much lower fee than what the Turkish giants want for him.
The Daily Mail claimed in their live transfer blog on Monday [12:06pm] that Galatasaray value Kabak at being worth £20million, but it turns out that the defender has a release clause in his contract that means he could be on the move for just £6.7million in the New Year.
Manchester United are reportedly interested in signing the Turkey youth international, who has emerged as a first team regular at Galatasaray this season, but that should not stop Celtic from having a go at what could be one of the best bargains buys they have made in years.
Brendan Rodgers should be desperate to sign defensive reinforcements in the January transfer window, especially after Sunday’s woeful showing against Hibernian in the 2-0 defeat at Easter Road.
Jozo Simunovic is clearly not good enough for the Hoops, which is bad news considering Dedryck Boyata’s contract expires at the end of the season and Filip Benkovic is only on a season-long loan at Parkhead from Leicester.
That means that it is very likely that Rodgers will have to rebuild his defence next summer, so why not start early by signing one of the most in-demand teenage centre-backs in Europe?
Kabak has done very well at Galatasaray this season.
The 18-year-old has made 16 appearances in all competitions for the Istanbul giants, with four of those coming in the Champions League group stages where he kept a clean sheet against group runners-up Schalke.
In the league, Galatasaray’s form has been pretty average, but for Kabak’s age he has shown a tremendous level of composure and professionalism, which is something that would go down well at Celtic Park.
Rodgers should have enough money to spend in January to be able to buy Kabak, especially after the club posted a profit of £6.9million in 2017, which came before Moussa Dembele was sold to Lyon for just under £20million [BBC Sport] in August.
Celtic can no longer neglect the fact that their defence is not as good as it can be and Kabak not only represents someone with incredible re-sale value, but also the ability to improve what Rodgers currently has to select from in his side.