Pundit Tam McManus has provided some insight about Celtic’s interest in signing former Sheffield Wednesday striker Steven Fletcher.
McManus appeared as a guest on the latest episode of PLZ Soccer’s The Football Show. The panel discussed many potential transfers in Scottish football and McManus was asked about Fletcher and Celtic’s interest in signing the striker.
BBC Sport recently reported that Celtic have offered Fletcher a one-year deal after the striker has rejected a contract that Sheffield Wednesday had offered. The report said that Celtic and Fletcher are yet to reach an agreement on any sort of a deal.
When talking about Celtic’s interest in Fletcher, McManus said: “I know Celtic have spoken to his agent and Steven. I think there is an interest there, but where he is on a list, in terms of [the] pecking order, I know Neil Lennon would quite fancy him, but I think he’s got other irons in the fire.”
Are you confident that Celtic will sign Fletcher?
Yes, we'll sign him
No, we'll miss out
McManus confirms that contact with Fletcher’s agent has already been made, but he seems uncertain about where the striker lies on Celtic’s shortlist for potential striker targets. He also feels that Neil Lennon really likes Fletcher right now. The 33-year-old is valued at £1.26m currently.
TIF Thoughts…
Fletcher’s contract at Sheffield Wednesday ran out recently and as a result, he is currently a free agent. In the 2019/20 season for the Owls, the Scotsman found the net 13 times in all competitions while playing 30 games. All those goals came in the 27 appearances that he made in the Championship (as per Transfermarkt).
At the age of 33, Fletcher could offer a lot of experience to the Celtic first-team. The 2019/20 season shows that he can still score goals. The fact that he is a free agent is another bonus as Celtic can get goals and experience without spending any transfer fee. So this move could prove to be a good one for the Hoops.