Pundit Kevin Graham has recently talked about the possibility of Celtic signing Sampdoria defender Omar Colley.
Graham was a guest on the latest episode of the A Celtic State of Mind podcast and the panel talked about multiple issues involving the Hoops. They discussed the club’s defensive situation and Graham believes that if someone like Kristoffer Ajer leaves this summer, signing Colley could become a possibility for the Bhoys.
Italian newspaper Il Secolo XIX (via FootballItalia) recently reported that the Hoops have made their ‘first formal offer’ for Colley. They’ve reportedly proposed a loan deal which includes an obligation to buy the defender permanently next summer. Meanwhile, Ajer has been linked with a move to Milan in recent months.
When talking about how Celtic may need Colley, who is valued at £4.5m, Graham believes that a need may arise if Ajer departs this summer.
He said: “If we’re bringing in Shane Duffy on loan only – yesterday it looked like it might have been permanent, it might have been four years – but the person who’s reported it is a loan deal is usually spot-on when it comes to Celtic. If we lose a centre-half – and I’m probably looking at big Ajer at this point – I wouldn’t be surprised if Omar Colley is an actual goer.”
Would you like Colley to replace Ajer at Celtic?
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TIF Thoughts…
27-year-old Colley made 31 appearances for Sampdoria in the 2019/20 season and 30 of them were starts. He racked up a WhoScored rating of 6.73/10 in his performances and that made him the club’s fifth-best performer in the previous campaign.
He also made the joint-second-highest number of interceptions per game for the club (1.9) and won the second-highest number of aerial duels per game (2.8).
This suggests that he might be a decent option for Celtic and understands what it takes to play regular first-team football. So if Ajer ends up leaving this summer, Colley might yet be a decent replacement for him at Parkhead.