Charlie Nicholas has launched an astonishing blast on Celtic's transfer business - claiming Neil Lennon will be furious at the club opting for the 'cheap option' in Diego Laxalt.
Laxalt, 27, joined on loan from AC Milan on deadline day to add to the Hoops' signings of Vasilis Barkas, David Turnbull, Albian Ajeti, Shane Duffy and Moi Elyounoussi. But Nicholas still reckons Lennon will feel he could have gotten more out of the window.
Celtic also managed to keep hold of their prized assets in Odsonne Edouard, Kris Ajer and Olivier Ntcham, and can perhaps only point to Alfie Doughty as the one player they missed out on during a £13million spending spree. Yet, still Nicholas was not content. "Celtic new signing Diego Laxalt was highly thought of a few years ago but since then he has drifted," he told Daily Express.
The Uruguayan has been on the books of Inter and AC Milan but was not a first-team regular.
"He has spent most of his time at these clubs out on loan. The worry is that it could take six weeks to get him fit. Laxalt, for me, isn't an inspirational signing.
"I said Celtic would go cheap in their pursuit of a left-back. I knew they wouldn't spend money on a defender that Neil Lennon has been ever so patient for. I don't think Lennon has been given much of a helping hand, if I am being honest. He had to work double time to get anything out of so-called wealthy Celtic. I'd imagine he'll be pretty annoyed this morning.
"I am sure he will put on a brave face but I don't think he will have got anything close to what he was looking for."
Nicholas also suggested that rivals Rangers did the better business in securing Bongani Zungu late yesterday on an initial loan spell. "Albian Ajeti will get him goals but there are still question marks in other areas of the Celtic team," he added.
"Rangers must be looking at it thinking that they got the better of the deals.
"Celtic were a stronger side last season. The main positive for Lennon is that all his main players are staying, although I am not convinced Olivier Ntcham, Kris Ajer and Tom Rogic are happy."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel