Jock Brown Calls For a Shrewder Approach To Celtic Transfers

Despite the majority of Footballing focus currently being on the international scene, transfer season is well underway, with Celtic having been linked with several players already.

Countless goalkeepers have been named as potential Joe Hart replacements while impressive young Swiss midfielder Alvyn Sanches emerged as a target yesterday.

A deal to sign Adam Idah permanently appears to have its complications but the Hoops look to be making progress in their attempts to bring Paulo Bernardo back to the club.

The Portugal under-21s captain showed several glimpses of quality during his temporary year in Glasgow and with no room for him back at Benfica, he is keen to return to the champions.

The option to buy in his loan deal reportedly stood at £6.5m, but Celtic have looked to renegotiate that down and now, are closing in on an agreement.

The club have dealt with this situation well and appear to be getting bang for their buck, something former general manager Jock Brown has urged.

He recently outlined how Celtic cannot simply utilise their financial strength alone to sign players and rather, they need to be slightly shrewder.

He said: (The Herald via RecordSport) “People talk about backing [managers], and say ‘just give him the money’. That’s just utter nonsense.

“You have to think about the long term welfare and good of the club. That doesn’t just mean give them what they want.

“When I was there at Celtic, people spoke about wages and said things like: ‘Just give him what he wants’. I remember being in the situation by being very sticky about money, as I was.

“It’s very simple to say to these things: ‘OK, what do you want? OK, there you go.’ You can’t do that if you’re going to be sensible, and it means you’re going to get another player in, or another two players in that might make a big difference to the squad.”