Media contributor Natasha Meikle insists that Celtic will have to force some fringe players out the door in order to secure their transfer targets.
With the Bhoys closing in on the permanent signings of Cameron Carter-Vickers and Jota, the issue of balancing the books has been raised.
Tom Rogic and Nir Bitton will be moved on from their respective £15k and £14k-per-week contracts with a year still to run, but flogging some of the club’s higher earners like Christopher Jullien and Albian Ajeti will be much more of a struggle.
Should Celtic sell Jullien?Yes!
No!
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The Hoops spent a combined fee of £12m on the duo, with Boli Bolingoli also brought in for £3m, and Meikle doubts the club can garner anywhere close to the figures they have spent on players that haven’t seen too much football for Celtic recently.
Speaking on the latest edition of A Celtic State of Mind, she said: “The issue I think that Celtic are going to have is getting these players out the door.
“We’re not going to recoup any money on them, so what we need to be looking at is how to get them out the door so that we can at least save on the wages that we can then use for someone else. For example, to put into Cameron Carter-Vickers, his package that he’s going to get; to help fund Jota – things like that. But I don’t think it’s going to be an easy task, moving some of these players on.”
TIF Thoughts on Celtic’s outgoings….
There are a number of players at Parkhead who have been left surplus to requirements under Ange Postecoglou’s tutelage, with James Forrest, Vasilis Barkas and Ismaila Soro all names that can be added to the others.
The latter duo started just one game each this season, while Forrest has been involved in nine matches from the off, meaning it may be difficult to attract suitors – but Lennoxtown officials will have to act.
They could clear a huge chunk of their wage bill with Jullien, Forrest and Ajeti being their third, fourth and fifth-highest earners at the club, while Bolingoli, Barkas and Soro all currently reportedly earn more than Jota, meaning there could be significant leeway when it comes to adjusting their budget, but it will be interesting to see whether they can offload those names or not.