Celtic tipped to launch defender bid after player confession
Noel Whelan has tipped Celtic to launch a bid to sign a new centre-back in January after Thursday’s defeat to Bayer Leverkusen.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former Aberdeen striker insisted Ange Postecoglou would want to strengthen his backline after conceding three in Germany.
As quoted by the Scottish Sun after the 3-2 loss, Postecoglou confessed his players “are not at this level yet”.
The Hoops have conceded 13 goals in five Europa League games, more than any other side in the group stages.
Whelan admitted the Hoops’ defending had been an issue for the last year-and-a-half.
Whelan told Football Insider’s Russell Edge: “I think what he said about not being at that level, if they can’t fix the problem on the training ground, you’ve got to look elsewhere.
“That’s what you’ve got to do. There’s been a lot of slack defending from Celtic over the last season-and-a-half now.
“You can’t keep defending like that and conceding goals like that. There’s nothing better than seeing your team taking pride in keeping clean sheets.
“Right now, they’re struggling to do that. I think that’s the only one area, he’s strengthened in midfield, he’s strengthened in the forward line.
“He brought in two centre-halves in the summer but I do believe he needs to go into the market and probably get another centre-half.
“There’s probably no doubt in his mind he’d like to get another centre-half in. I can see that happening.”
Celtic signed Carl Starfelt and Cameron Carter-Vickers, the latter on loan, to bolster their centre-back options.
Stephen Welsh and Christopher Jullien are Postecoglou’s other senior options at the heart of defence.
In other news, Kieran Maguire claims Celtic hit by £38million hammer blow.