Celtic are in “talks” to sign “exciting” £7m forward

Celtic need to add more firepower to Brendan Rodgers’ squad before the summer transfer window officially slams shut at the start of September.

The Hoops head coach admitted earlier this month, after the team’s 4-0 win over Newcastle United in a pre-season friendly, that the club must add more goals to the team.

When asked about what Celtic need to do in the market, Rodgers said: “I think it’s bringing goals to the squad. Especially when you score four goals, it seems like you’re okay. But we lost an important player in Kyogo [Furuhashi] in January. He brought us a lot of goals. We lost Nicolas Kuhn. He brought us a lot of goals. Matt O’Riley even last summer.

“So even though we scored a lot of goals last season, we still want more. And our ambition is to have more. So I think all across the front areas, we have to be active in order to give us that depth we need.”

The Scottish Premiership champions now have to enter the market to find players who can provide Rodgers with better options at the top end of the pitch ahead of next season.

Celtic have shown that they are willing to enter a diverse range of markets to find new talent, including the Netherlands, as shown by their move for Giorgos Giakoumakis in the summer of 2021.

Celtic hit the jackpot with Giorgos Giakoumakis

The Greek international was signed on a permanent deal from VVV-Venlo after his exceptional return of 29 goals in 33 matches in all competitions for the Dutch side in the 2020/21 campaign.

Giakoumakis arrived at Parkhead as a prolific scorer in the Netherlands and joined at the same time as Kyogo Furuhashi under Ange Postecoglou, competing with the Japan international for a place in the starting XI.

During his 18-month spell in Glasgow, the Greek centre-forward showcased his quality in front of goal by scoring on a regular basis, despite rarely starting matches.

Giakoumakis ended his career in Scotland with a return of 26 goals in 57 matches in all competitions, which included a haul of 19 goals in 40 Scottish Premiership outings.

As you can see in the table above, the experienced forward only started 15 of those 40 league matches for the club, which makes his tally of 19 goals all the more impressive.

Giakoumakis was able to adapt to Scottish football after coming over from the Eredivisie, and Celtic could repeat the blinder they played when they hit gold with the striker by signing another attacker from the Netherlands.

Celtic in talks to sign Danish winger

According to Sky Sports journalist Anthony Joseph, Celtic are in “talks” with Dutch side Go Ahead Eagles over a potential deal to sign winger Jakob Breum.

The reporter claims that the Hoops are continuing discussions with the Eredivisie outfit after they had multiple bids turned down for the 21-year-old talent.

Joseph states that the Scottish Premiership champions have already had two bids swatted away by Go Ahead Eagles, the latest of which was worth up to £2.6m.

He adds that the £2.6m bid fell ‘way short’ of the club’s valuation of Breum, which has been reported elsewhere to be around the £7m mark, and talks are now ongoing to find an agreement.

It now remains to be seen whether or not the Hoops are prepared to significantly improve their offer in order to strike a deal for the versatile winger, as there appears to be a big gap between their latest bid and how much Go Ahead Eagles value him.

Why Celtic should sign Jakob Breum

The Hoops should sign the £7m-rated talent because he could be an excellent addition to the squad as a versatile and talented young star who could add a lot of value to the team.

His versatility, first and foremost, is a big asset. Breum predominantly plays on the left flank, with 60 career starts in that role, but he has also started 27 games on the right flank and 29 matches as an attacking midfielder, which shows that Rodgers could use him in a variety of ways.

The Denmark U21 international could also follow in Giakoumakis’ footsteps as another clinical finisher to come over from the Netherlands, albeit in a different area of the pitch.

In the 2024/25 Eredivisie, Breum scored ten goals from 6.27 xG and produced 8.35 xG on target. This essentially means that the quality of the shots he took from 6.27 xG increased his xG by more than two, which shows that he is an incredibly lethal finisher.

As well as being a top-quality finisher who could provide goals on a fairly regular basis, just as Giakoumakis did at Parkhead, the Danish youngster is also an excellent creator from the attacking midfield and wide positions.

As you can see in the table above, the Celtic target ranked highly among his positional peers in the Eredivisie when it came to creating chances and assisting goals for his teammates.

These statistics show that Breum, who was described as an “exciting” talent by Sport Republic video scout RDF Tactics, is an attacking player who has the quality to score and assist goals at an impressive rate.

This is why the 21-year-old talent could follow in Giakoumakis’ footsteps as another successful attacking signing from the Eredivisie, as he appears to have all the tools to be an excellent player for Rodgers to call upon next season.

Of course, it will be down to Breum to ensure that he adapts to Scottish football and hits the ground running, getting as many minutes as he can, and the forward’s versatility could help with that, as the youngster can fill so many positions.

Related

Better than Balikwisha: Celtic have long-term interest in £7m winger

Celtic have a long-term interest in a forward who would be an even better signing than Michel-Ange Balikwisha.

It is now up to Celtic, though, to increase their bid in order to convince Go Ahead Eagles to part ways with the clinical attacking midfielder this summer.