Pundit Hugh MacDonald has been talking about Celtic’s striker situation and has given his verdict about the potential signature of Albian Ajeti.
MacDonald was recently present on the latest episode of PLZ Soccer’s The Football Show. The panel talked about many issues surrounding Scottish football, and MacDonald was asked for his opinion about Ajeti and how he would affect Celtic’s striker situation.
Sky Sports recently reported that Celtic have now agreed a season-long loan deal with West Ham United and the deal includes an option to buy the Swiss forward permanently for around £5m.
While talking about this update and Celtic’s striker situation, MacDonald said: “The Ajeti one from West Ham seems to be a very strong indication [they are looking for a striker]. I actually think that if they are playing two up front, they are pretty well off. Because [Leigh] Griffiths is now back in the frame, Lenny’s [Neil Lennon] come and said that not quite all is forgiven, but the fitness is back up to the levels. I think [Patryk] Klimala is definitely staking his claim very strongly – both in his attitude and training. Apparently he came back super fit and he scored two goals today, so that is never a handicap.
Will Ajeti be an upgrade on Odsonne Edouard?
Not at all!
Absolutely!
“The third thing is, they have got [Mohamed] Elyounoussi, who can play off a centre-forward. He could play off Edouard as well. So I think they are actually pretty strong up there at the moment. Another one will make [them] even stronger.”
MacDonald clearly believes that Ajeti, who is valued at £4.32m, will only improve the depth that Celtic have in the striker position. He also feels that they have enough quality in that part of the pitch, anyway.
TIF Thoughts…
Ajeti didn’t score a single goal for West Ham in the whole of the 2019/20 campaign but he was a very reliable goalscorer for Basel during his time at the Swiss club. He made 96 appearances in all competitions for Basel and scored 43 times, also racking up 21 assists for them (via Transfermarkt).
Celtic often used a 3-5-2 system in the second half of the 2019/20 season, and if they stick to that two-striker shape in the 2020/21 campaign, Ajeti could get some more chances to play regularly. Some regular playing time might just help him a lot and Celtic fans can only hope that he can reach the same sort of level that he was at during his time at Basel.