Celtic need to identify a striker like Ivan Toney after previously going close to signing the Premier League striker.
That’s according to former Hoops man Frank McAvennie, who spoke to Football Insider about the side’s poor finishing in Europe and why they need to bring in a new forward.
Celtic had a total of 82 attempts across their Champions League run this season and only scored four goals. All things considered, that’s a very poor return despite clashes with the likes of Real Madrid and RB Leipzig.
McAvennie discussed how the club missed out on getting Toney, who is now reportedly valued at £40m, and how they need a striker who can score to help them progress in Europe.
He stated: “Kyogo and Giakoumakis are loved at Celtic because they are scoring goals.
“But, you can’t go away in Europe and create 82 chances and only score four goals.
“If I was there, I would accept that if I could not hack it in Europe, I would move on. Celtic need to be in Europe, that is where they should be.
“The amount of chances they created, a good striker would have scored them and we would be in the play-offs. I would bring another striker in, I would like to see them have three.
“We could have had Ivan Toney, we were so close to signing him. That is the kind of player that you need. If they bring someone in for £8/10m. I think everyone still believes in Ange.”
TIF Thoughts on McAvennie’s comments…
We believe that Celtic do need to look into buying a new striker. Whilst they sit on top of the Scottish Premiership, if they want to do well in Europe, getting goals seems to be their issue.
Four goals from 82 attempts in the Champions League simply isn’t good enough. It shows the Hoops are creating a lot of chances, but don’t have the quality required to finish them.
However, finding a forward who can cut it in Europe at a bargain price would be a challenge. With transfer fees seemingly getting higher and higher these days, it would take some high-level scouting.
What Celtic may have to do is be willing to splash a bigger fee than the one McAvennie suggested – unless they have some exciting talents they’ve found hidden up their sleeve.