BBC Sportsound pundit Tam McManus has claimed that it would be a “steal” for Celtic to sign Aberdeen centre-back Scott McKenna for £5million.
Sky Sports reported in the summer that the Hoops were trying to sign the 22-year-old, but the Dons slapped a £10million price-tag on the Scotland international’s head and nothing came of it.
However ex-Hibernian star McManus now believes that Celtic could sign McKenna for half of that price.
“£5million for Scott McKenna would be a steal and a great bit of business for Celtic,” he said, via his personal Twitter account on Tuesday afternoon.
“Crying out for that type of centre-half for a while. I do think though if Aberdeen hold out until the summer someone in England would definitely pay more for him he’s perfectly suited to the English game.”
https://twitter.com/The_Tman10/status/1085180207726764037
OPINION
Celtic need to improve their defence as soon as they can because their poor rearguard has been the core of many of their bad results under Brendan Rodgers’ leadership. McKenna is one of the best centre-backs in Scotland outside Parkhead, and definitely the best outside of Glasgow, so it would be a good signing if Rodgers is able to agree a deal with Aberdeen. It is bound to be a costly one. McKenna is still relatively young at 22-years-of-age and he is a full international, having earned his first eight caps for Scotland in 2018. The defensive powerhouse could be an upgrade on someone like Dedryck Boyata, who will more than likely leave in the summer when his contract expires, and he is definitely better than back-up options like Jozo Simunovic, Kristoffer Ajer and Jack Hendry. Filip Benkovic will also leave at the end of the season when his loan deal ends. McKenna is needed now more than ever.