Date: 5th July 2019 at 3:54pm
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Celtic have a recent history of bringing players on loan to supplement their squad and given the work that needs to be done on their current side it would be no surprise to see something similar in this window.

Celtic’s defence is thread-bare at the minute and although there have been some targets linked to the club they do need a good few bodies brought through the Parkhead doors if they are to continue their domestic dominance. Neil Lennon won’t want to to take any risks with his Celtic squad as they look to make it nine Premiership titles in a row, a fourth consecutive treble and make an impact in Europe as they did during his first spell as manager at Parkhead.

With defence being a priority for Lennon and Celtic this summer then the loan signing of Manchester City’s young central defender Tosin Adarbioyo would make sense. The 21-year-old impressed at the Hawthorns last season but with West Brom failing to go up through the play-offs it looks unlikely that he’ll extend his stay in the Midlands. Adarbioyo should still be looking for a spell away from The Etihad as although Vincent Kompany has left, links to Harry Maguire would suggest Pep Guardiola is looking outward rather inward for a new central defender. Celtic play in a similar way to Pep’s Man City and would be expected to get on the ball and start attacks from the back. On top of a similar style of play, Celtic could offer the young defender the chance to play European football in the same way they managed to entice Paddy Roberts and Daniel Arzani away from City in temporary deals previously. Adaribioyo would be a nice signing for Celtic but there would be no guarantee of game time ahead of £7 million signing Christopher Julien and the ever-impressing and developing Kristoffer Ajer.

With David Luiz, Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen and Fikayo Tomori likely to be ahead of him in the queue it might be best for Welshman Ethan Ampadu to leave Chelsea on loan in search of some first-team minutes. Ampadu has impressed whenever he’s played for Chelsea and Wales and should be set for a temporary move away from Frank Lampard’s side this summer. Like Adaribioyo he’s a defender capable of breaking out from the defensive line and starting attacks which is an attribute that has suited Celtic centre-backs in the past. Ampadu might be in a similar situation to his Manchester City counterpart if he were to move to Celtic Park in that despite his sky-high potential he can’t be guaranteed a starting berth which might put Chelsea off loaning him to the Glasgow giants.

The fact that Celtic have signed Julien- one of their most expensive signings ever– might worry clubs looking to send their youngsters on loan to Celtic Park but given the club’s success-rate with centre backs in the past, it’s still an attractive side to develop at for central defenders at the beginning of their careers.

 

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