After confirming the signing of Kyogo Furuhashi, Celtic are on the lookout for another striker and have turned their attention towards out-of-favour Rennes striker M’Baye Niang. The 26-year-old forward is currently struggling to find his feet at the French club and is looking for a fresh start, potentially with the Glasgow giants.
The Senegalese striker burst onto the scene at AC Milan, but was unable to hold his ground at San Siro and was sent on loan at various clubs like Montpellier, Genoa, Watford and Torino. He signed for Torino in 2018 and was immediately sent on loan to Rennes, who signed the player permanently in 2019.
Recently, he spent six months on loan at Saudi Arabian club Al-Ahli before returning to Rennes last month. The player, from being a young prospect who was expected to boom on the global stage, has gone on to simply run multiple unsuccessful loan spells at different clubs.
Comme indiqué en Italie, l'équipe italienne de Venezia est très très chaud sur M’baye Niang pour un transfert sec. Le Fenerbahce, le Celtic Glasgow et Shanghai Greenland sont interessés par l'attaquant rennais mais à un degré moindre. pic.twitter.com/ovlSF9uzuK
— Sébastien Denis (@sebnonda) July 22, 2021
Niang, who still has a contract running until 2023 at the Ligue 1 club, has been linked to many clubs and Celtic are one of them. Rennes paid a total of £15 million to the Italian club, Torino, for his transfer back in 2019, but being unable to live up to his potential has certainly reduced his asking price.
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According to French transfer expert Sebastien Denis (via Football Italia), M’Baye Niang is a transfer target for Scottish side Celtic this summer. Report also stated that Fenerbahce, Shanghai SIPG and Venezia are also among the other clubs who are keeping an eye out for the former AC Milan player.
Under the management of Ange Postecoglou, Celtic are now starting to add quality and depth to their current squad to successfully compete for the Scottish Premiership title next season. As reported earlier, Celtic have recently added Israeli winger Liel Abada to their strikeforce, but the Hoops want another striker, and the Rennes striker is reportedly being considered as the necessary addition or a possible replacement to Edouard.
Do Celtic need to make a move for M’Baye Niang :
With the arrival of Furuhashi and Liel Abada and the presence of other forward players such as Leigh Griffiths and Odsonne Edouard, who is wanted by Premier League club Brighton, it looks really difficult for the Senegalese player to make a mark for himself at Parkhead. Moreover, opportunities will be minimal due to the presence of others and even if he gets the chance, the striker will need to hit the ground running from the onset, given the demanding nature of the Scottish Premiership.
You can add the striker as a secondary option, that’s the most he is capable of right now, and it’s unsure whether Celtic will make an official bid for the player despite being linked with him. There are other areas of concern for the Hoops as of now, the goalkeeping position being at the top of it, followed by defensive reinforcements.
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As Sir Alex once said “Attack wins you games, defence wins you titles”, and that is exactly what Celtic should look to achieve in their squad revamp this summer by turning their attention towards first reinforcing their defence, rather than spending excessively on forwards. As of now, they have got real good quality attacking options up front and adding Niang to it seems redundant unless they intend to sell Edouard and utilise him as the main man up front, which seems unlikely.
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