Celtic have been offered the chance to strengthen their squad with another Matt O'Riley replacement in January as they aim to bring home silverware on multiple fronts come the end of the campaign.
Celtic fail to replace O'Riley
In the biggest deal of Celtic's summer, midfielder Matt O'Riley left the Scottish Premiership to sign for Brighton in a £25m deal, leaving after a season in which he provided 19 goals and 18 assists from midfield.
So far, Brendan Rodgers' side have not missed a beat in his absence, with Callum McGregor stepping up on the goalscoring front, leading the Scottish Premiership scoring charts with six strikes, which have come from just seven shots on target.
mcgregor-celtic-premiership-rodgers
He has helped them clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership, as well as to an impressive spot in Europe that hands them a strong chance of reaching the knockout rounds of the Champions League for the first time since the 2012/13 season.
All that is without O'Riley, while his replacement Arne Engels is yet to really find any goalscoring form for the Parkhead side, meaning that Celtic are scoring fewer goals from midfield than last season, though goals from elsewhere are helping to make up the shortfall.
Arne Engels' start to Celtic life (SPL)
Appearances
Goals
Assists
Yellow Cards
Now though, the Bhoys have been offered the chance to sign a new box-to-box midfielder in January, who could help them push for silverware across all fronts.
Celtic can sign midfielder on loan
That comes as Celtic have been "offered the chance" to sign Chelsea man Carney Chukwuemeka on loan for the remainder of the campaign. The 21-year-old is yet to start a game under Enzo Maresca at Stamford Bridge, who admitted in the summer that it would be better for his career if he left west London.
So far, he has been proved right, with Chukwuemeka seeing just 63 minutes of action across four substitute appearances, and none of those coming in the Premier League.
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As a result, he is keen to leave Chelsea in January, with The Boot Room claiming that the youngster "recognises the fact that he isn’t getting anywhere near Maresca’s plans" and is "ready to move" to Celtic as a result.
The Blues are thought to be open to either a loan or permanent move, but having shelled out £25m to sign him from Aston Villa two years ago, they are likely to want to recoup much of that fee, something that Celtic are unlikely to be able to afford on top of his £100,000 a week wages.
A loan is therefore far more likely for Brendan Rodgers' side, who have already spent over £25m on new faces this season. Though relatively new to senior football (he has just 1000 minutes of first team action under his belt), Chukwuemeka was prolific from midfield at youth level, with 13 goals and 13 assists in 4000 minutes of action, demonstrating that he knows where the back of the net is.
Could he be an option to help replace O'Riley's midfield contributions and give Rodgers more flexibility as he eyes up a potentially historic campaign in Glasgow?