Celtic pundit Lawrence Connolly has recently praised the recruitment that the club did in the summer transfer window.
Connolly was a guest on the latest episode of the ‘A Celtic State of Mind’ podcast and the panel discussed multiple issues involving the Parkhead-based side. One topic of discussion was the club’s recruitment in the summer transfer window. Connolly hailed the club’s head of recruitment Gary Penrice for the business that was done in the summer.
The Hoops signed Mohamed Elyounoussi, Shane Duffy and Diego Laxalt on loan deals. They signed Albian Ajeti on a permanent basis, while Vasilis Barkas and David Turnbull also joined on permanent deals (as per Transfermarkt).
Penrice was appointed the club’s head of recruitment earlier this year and he has worked with Celtic’s head of football operations Nick Hammond when they were at West Bromwich Albion (as per Daily Mail).
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Connolly talked about the club’s recruitment and he believes that the players that Celtic signed will prove to be good signings at some point.
He said: “You know, we need people at games. [Neil Lennon] can’t go to all the games [to watch players]. We need to unearth gems like whether it is a [Virgil] Van Dijk or [Victor] Wanyama or whoever. So it has always been collective – the signings bit. The head of recruitment, I think, he’s done a cracking job. By and large, I don’t know what kind of success we are looking for from players, but I think most of those signings are going to be good signings for Celtic, and have proved to be so far.”
TIF Thoughts about Connolly’s comments regarding Celtic’s recruitment…
The Hoops had a net spent of £10.08m in the summer transfer window and it suggests that the club did try to strengthen the side in their bid to win the tenth Premiership title in a row this season.
As things stand, Ajeti has already scored five goals in all competitions for the Bhoys and Elyounoussi has contributed to nine goals in all competitions too. Duffy has been the club’s fourth-highest rated player in the Premiership and Laxalt impressed in the recent Europa League game against his parent club AC Milan.
This suggests that a majority of signings have started the season well and that is a promising sign for the club. So it is understandable why Connolly is giving Penrice credit for the summer signings.