dailyrecord.co.uk

Transfer news LIVE as Celtic and Rangers plus Hearts, Aberdeen and Hibs eye signings

The Daily Record

Sport

Football

Transfer TalkLIVEUpdated 2 mins ago

It's your one-stop shop for transfers in Scotland, England and beyond as top sides make their moves

Today06:45 BST

Jury addresses transfer statement

Is the £11m arrival of Kasper Hogh a statement signing from Celtic?

KEITH JACKSON: Yes. Celtic's supporters have quite rightly been demanding more ambition from the men upstairs for some time. Hogh's capture is proof that the penny has finally dropped and should bring the temperature down considerably ahead of the new season.

ANDY NEWPORT: It’s a start but when you consider the club just raked in £10m by selling Maeda, so it’s effectively a net £1m outlay. The fans are right to demand an awful lot more.

SCOTT McDERMOTT It should. Celtic has been slow in getting players in but they've now secured two proven Champions League strikers for a combined £15 million - albeit while losing Daizen Maeda at the same time. Punters will obviously still want a lot more but it's a decent start.

MICHAEL GANNON: It’s a serious signing given Hogh’s Champions League experience. Camilo Duran is off to a flyer as well, so it should take some of the heat off the board. The gears turn slowly at Parkhead but this should show fans the club means business, and they will get there eventually when it comes to landing top level recruits.

Should Rangers push the boat out to bring Vaclav Cerny back to Ibrox?

KEITH: Absolutely. Derek McInnes is crying out for a right winger and Cerny is a tried and tested performer in the Scottish top flight. He won't come cheaply but the craft and experience the Czech offers would be worth every penny.

ANDY: Not at the kind of numbers being spoken about. He’s on £40,000 plus per week in Turkey and will cost £10m to bring back to Scotland. The total package would work out at £18m over a four year deal. At 28, Gers would be unlikely to get much of that back.

SCOTT: If it's a deal that can be done within the budget, yes. Cerny's numbers were terrific during his loan spell at Ibrox. He'd be a ready-made starter for Derek McInnes on the flank, which is something the team needs. If possible, it should be a no-brainer.

MICHAEL:Rangers need pace and creativity, especially from the wide areas, so it would make sense to see if they can strike a deal for Cerny. It might be too much of a leap financially for a 28-year-old but if they sit tight and perhaps get him on loan it would be a neat bit of business.

Today06:42 BST

£17m Celtic front line made to run amok

Celtic's Camilo Duran

Camilo Duran raced out and bought himself a pair of snazzy four-leaf clover earrings the moment he knew he was heading to Celtic this summer.

The Colombian has dazzled as much as the jazzy jewellery so far but with some strike company on the way, it looks like the Hoops’ luck in front of goal is about to change.

Martin O’Neill’s men dragged themselves over the finishing line last season to capture an unlikely Double.

They didn’t half do it the hard way though.

Newly departed Daizen Maeda hitting form over the run-in, along with a couple of crucial moments from Kelechi Iheanacho got the job done eventually.

But it was a slog for most of the season and a lot was down to Celtic’s being blunt as beach balls in the final third.

The Hoops had strikers who didn’t seem to know how to score.

The previous campaign under Brendan Rodgers, Maeda, Adam Idah and Kyogo – who was only there half a season – bagged 56 goals between them, with Nicholas Kuhn adding another 20.

Last term? Celtic strikers managed just 35 – shared out by SEVEN of them.

Idah didn’t notch before he left, neither did the ill-fated Shin Yamada, loans Tomas Cvancara and Junior Adamu managed just three between them, Johnny Kenny got six while Iheanacho’s nine wasn’t exactly a bumper total for a no.9 and Maeda only managed eight by April until his incredible late burst got him to 17.

Top scorer Benjamin Nygren’s 20 from midfield made the difference but adding a cutting edge was O’Neill’s top priority in this summer window.

And it looks like he’s got it.

Today06:40 BST

McInnes teases more transfers

Derek McInnes(Image: SNS Group)

Derek McInnes admits he’s still shy of the creative cooks Rangers need to feed their starving frontmen.

But he’s still hopeful of serving up a couple of new recruits before the Ibrox side kick-off their campaign at Tannadice on Friday night.

The new Light Blues boss watched his side round of their pre-season preparations with a goalless draw against West Ham.

But it was the second game on the spin in which Gers have failed to score from open play.

Now McInnes - who has already added seven new faces to squad - admits he’s looking to solve that issue before next week’s curtain raiser with Dundee United.

Read full news in source page