Pundit Colin Watt has recently made a claim about Celtic’s interest in signing Motherwell defender Stephen O’Donnell.
Watt appeared as a guest on the latest episode of the ‘A Celtic State of Mind’ podcast and the panel discussed multiple issues involving the Bhoys. One topic of discussion was how Celtic could replace Jeremie Frimpong. Watt talked about O’Donnell’s situation and he believes that the Motherwell defender could come in as a Youssouf Mulumbu-like signing for the Bhoys.
Former Celtic right-back Jeremie Frimpong has now left the club to join Bundesliga giants Bayer Leverkusen for an undisclosed fee. It has been noted that O’Donnell’s contract runs out this month, with rumours said to be circulating about his future.
Would a move for O'Donnell make sense for Celtic?
Yes
No
Watt believes that the defender may not be a signing that the Hoops want, but he could be a signing that they get.
He said: “Who will they bring in? Will it be a bargain basement? As Amy says, Stephen O’Donnell – his contract’s up at Motherwell next week. I wouldn’t be surprised if towards the end of the window, he comes in as a sort of Youssouf Mulumbu-type signing. He’s not the player we wanted, but it’s a player we end up getting.”
TIF Thoughts on Watt’s comments on O’Donnell…
O’Donnell is currently 28 and he offers a lot of experience of having played in the Scottish Premiership. The defender has made 21 league appearances for Motherwell this season and he has picked up a rating of 6.58/10 during this period. As many as 12 Motherwell players have picked up better ratings than the Scotsman this season (as per WhoScored).
That should raise question marks about whether he’s good enough to play regularly for Celtic or not. The Hoops could be getting about £11.5 million from Frimpong’s sale and because of that, they should consider spending some money instead of signing O’Donnell on a free transfer.