Ben Banks and Lewis Anderson walk through the latest Rangers and Celtic transfer news.
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00:00Hello and welcome to the latest episode of Glasgow World's January Transfer Roundup
00:07regarding Celtic and Rangers. We're 14 days into the January window, my colleague
00:13Ben Banks joining me this afternoon to look over the latest transfer
00:18murmurings surrounding the two Glasgow clubs. As things stand there's been very
00:23little movement as I said two weeks into the window and there has been very little
00:28in terms of transfer activity Ben, in terms of outgoings and incomings. As
00:33expected a few kind of fringe players have completed loan moves since recording
00:39last week. Celtic have loaned Stephen Welsh to KV Mechelen in Belgium and
00:45Odin Thiago Holm to Los Angeles in the MLS. Two players Ben, just to kick
00:53off on those two completed bits of business, I guess relatively unsurprising
01:01news given that they were well down the perking order under Rodgers.
01:04Yeah probably especially Odin Thiago Holm, I don't think he's had much of a
01:08look in despite the fact he was technically a Rodgers signing in the
01:13first transfer window. He's never really looked like he's ever had a run in the
01:16team outside of maybe that spell in the first half of last season. Maybe a
01:21wee bit of willy or won'ty with Stephen Welsh purely on the basis of the UEFA
01:27rulings on homegrown players for squad quota. They've obviously had to bring back
01:31Dane Murray from Queen's Park and there's maybe an argument there to say
01:35you know Dane Murray is doing so well at Queen's Park he's building up a level of
01:41fitness after pretty terrible injuries. Does it make more sense to keep him
01:44there for the rest of the season and Stephen Welsh maybe looks for his
01:46opportunity in the summer but they've decided now that now's the time for
01:50Stephen Welsh to go and play. I don't think there's an option to buy for KV
01:55Mechelen which suggests there's maybe still an opportunity for Stephen Welsh
01:59to play for the Celtic future when he comes back in the summer. But Odin
02:04Thiago Holm I wouldn't imagine you're probably going to see him in a Celtic
02:07shirt certainly for the rest of this season. For the first part of next
02:12season as well the loan for him runs until the end of the MLS season which
02:16they run on a calendar year format as opposed to the traditional August
02:20to May format that most European leagues work off. So probably seeing the last of
02:24Odin Thiago Holm is my gut feeling in a Celtic shirt but Stephen Welsh given
02:29the increase in importance on UEFA quotas now for homegrown players I just
02:33get a feeling you're going to you're going to see him in a Celtic top at some
02:36point in the future. Roger's kind of being relatively coy isn't he when it
02:41comes to the actual transfer activity this month. I don't think he's exactly
02:45overly concerned given the club's current position at the top of the
02:49Scottish Premiership and given how they fared in the Champions League this
02:54season. But we do know Ben that he is looking to strengthen his forwards
02:59options in particular. He is looking at potentially bringing in another winger
03:04there's been mention of a new striker but again a lot of that would
03:07maybe depend on the situation regarding Kiyoko Furahashi and whether or not
03:13he'll still be a Celtic player by the end of the transfer window. But one
03:17name fresh on the supporters lips is Luis Barry. What can you
03:23tell us about this one? Yeah so it's been heavily reported that it started
03:30sort of as a forum type thing and it's now sort of now out there that
03:34Celtic are one of the several clubs as well as clubs in England that have
03:38expressed a low interest in him for the rest of the season. He's performed
03:44incredibly well for Stockport in the first half of the season. A prestigious
03:47talent early in his career maybe came off the boil a wee bit but certainly
03:51very much on it at Stockport. 16 goals in 24 games he scored and Celtic are now
03:57one of the teams said to be in the running for him. Unai Emery wants to run
04:00the rule over him in January so I think if you're going to see this deal, this
04:06deal won't be done until late in the window. I think he wants to look at
04:10whether or not he could potentially feature for Aston Villa now. They're on their way to
04:16St Doniel Mallin I think from Borussia Dortmund. A £21m deal so you
04:21would imagine if he comes in that probably limits an opportunity for Luis
04:25Barry. You're more just training him this month to see how he copes in the
04:28first team environment at that level. But certainly Celtic wouldn't be a
04:32bad destination for him. Obviously Aston Villa play Celtic later this month in the
04:35Champions League. Celtic look like they're going to progress in the league phase so it would be a
04:39chance for Celtic to give him some Champions League experience, a realm that
04:42Aston Villa want to try and maintain themselves in and as well playing for a
04:47winning team, playing for a team on the front foot so there's a likelihood he'd be
04:49able to carry up those statistics he's brought from. From being at Stockport, he's
04:55one of a few names linked to Sondre Odjaseta from Sarpsborg is another
05:01one that's been linked. Matthijs Kvartsson from Brondby, a long-time
05:05target, certainly reported anyway. There's another one that's linked so I think now
05:09we're starting to see where Celtic want to strengthen. It does seem to be in that
05:13winger forward department. Been a lot of talk about Luis Palma as well, a
05:17Dele De Reo Vallecano being sort of kiboshed by FIFA rulings against the
05:21Spanish side and it certainly looks like it could be a bit of movement in that
05:26department. Whether we see one, whether we see two remains to be seen but I think if
05:30you look at Celtic squad at the minute, with the uncertainty around Palma,
05:34Nicolas Koon, Dijs and Maida can't play every three days, certainly for half a
05:39season at the level Celtic are going to do. James Forrest has been injured, Yang is
05:43still a bit raw so I think it is an area of the department we'd want to strengthen.
05:47Just finally then on Celtic, since last week we know that there's still
05:52firm interest there in Kieran Tierney at this stage. Talks still seem to be
05:57progressing well with Arsenal over a return for Tierney. I think it's
06:04probably one maybe towards the end of the window again potentially, Ben, here
06:07where it'll be intriguing to see what situation arises around Greg Taylor.
06:14We know there's reported interest in him from clubs down south, again into the
06:21final six months of his contract, whether or not Tierney coming back in. We know
06:26his injury record, not necessarily going to play every game but he's a big
06:31game player and one that Celtic fans will be hoping that deal is pushed
06:35over the line sooner rather than later. We'll move on then to Rangers.
06:41Filipe, come on, where do we start? A man under serious pressure at this moment in
06:46time. There has been one fresh name linked on the back of Patrick Stewart's
06:52comments. The new Chief Executive Officer coming out over the weekend discussed a
06:57wide range of different matters including backing Filipe Clement in the
07:03short term amid fan frustrations over his situation, his
07:08predicament at this moment in time. Stewart also said that there was only
07:12going to be maybe one or two incomings, which I don't think has surprised the
07:17vast majority of Rangers fans, Ben. But one name that is worth mentioning, it
07:22sounds like they're working on a deal currently for Dundee midfielder Lyle
07:27Cameron. Again, another very exciting young talent. He's only 22 years of age,
07:33out of contract at Dens Park at the end of the season. How do you see this one?
07:40Obviously Rangers haven't necessarily delved into the domestic market too much
07:45in recent seasons. Do you feel that that would be a good move? I feel like if you
07:52look at Connor Barne, that's probably the most recent term one.
07:56Rangers need signings and you should be planning for the future as football
08:00clubs. You can't make signings. There's obviously been suggestions of Johnny
08:03Evans. This window, I don't think that's very short-sighted. I think
08:09the guy's 36, 37. You're only going to get a maximum of 18 months probably out of him
08:14at a good level before anything happens. Lyle Cameron falls into the
08:19Connor Barne vote for me of, is he a good player? Yes. Is he a player that's
08:23going to improve that Rangers XI automatically? I don't really think so
08:27at this minute in time. Connor Barne started the season well but has very
08:32quickly found himself on the bench again and struggling to get into that team.
08:35Nico Raskin is probably, when everybody's fit and firing and on
08:40song, he's very much the main man in there. Mohamed Diomande as well, when on
08:44form and on song, is a decent option in there. But outside that, they've not
08:50really got any proper standout players and even the two I mentioned there have
08:54got partial ability to have off days and they are still developing players.
08:59I think he's a good player but I just don't feel it's a great
09:03time for him to get the move to go into a club that is currently at war with it.
09:09It's civil war at Ibrox with the Union Bears walk out, the
09:13sections of the support are fractured, the team's not doing particularly great
09:17on the park. You're then walking into that environment where
09:21you really need to play above yourself. You need to probably do
09:25what Luke McCowns did, he's probably a good example, who left Dundee and gone to Celtic and
09:29had really thrived. It's not an easy environment to come into but
09:33you're going into an environment where you're winning most weeks, the style of
09:35football is being pleasing and you're miles ahead in the league. It's a wee bit easier
09:39environment to come into as the fact of Lyle Cameron, if it doesn't go well and
09:43he needs time to settle in, which is going to need to happen, fans are going to be
09:48on his back. So I'm not sure it's a great move for him as much as it is Rangers at this minute in time.
09:52Yeah, I guess the one thing you could kind of caveat it with is that
09:56UEFA quota that Rangers have struggled to fill, I guess, of late, I think
10:02obviously, Lyle Cameron, he certainly would bring added quality but as you
10:08said, not necessarily that regular starter, if you like. You look at maybe
10:12Luke McCown going to Celtic, again, I kind of use that as a contrast, you know,
10:17Cameron, a teammate of his during the time at Dens Park hasn't gone into Celtic
10:22as a regular starter. I don't think many Celtic fans necessarily thought he would
10:26but he certainly added real quality in terms of the appearances he has
10:32made so far. So I think it, you know, I totally understand. I think it's time
10:41that Rangers do start looking closer to home again because as you said,
10:45Baron Conor, Baron, you're going back years and years until the last player
10:51that they have, kind of Ryan Jack probably, I guess, back to that kind of
10:55time. So it'll be an interesting one to keep a close eye on. And yeah, it's
11:00important to touch on that. You mentioned Jonny Evans, Rangers very much
11:03having a kind of central defensive injury crisis at the moment. We had the
11:07news from Philippe Camont in his press conference today that Leon Balligan and
11:12James Tavernier are now back in full training with a view to returning, kind
11:18of, in the next couple of weeks. Do you still feel that's an area that Rangers
11:22very much need to strengthen? Robin Cropper's had plenty of critics since he
11:27arrived, but the names maybe suggested so far, there's been Ryan Porteous, who
11:32was very much the kind of pantomime villain when he was up here in
11:36Scotland. I guess they don't really inspire a great deal of confidence, would
11:40you say, in terms of being realistic targets? Yeah, I think the Ryan Porteous
11:45one's one of those, like, European-type style ones where, you know, you chuck
11:49some names in there because it gets good clicks. I think that's as much as that's
11:52amounting to. But it obviously has got pundits asking, sort of, whether it
11:56would be a good option in hypothetical scenarios. I've seen the name
11:59Bamu Miete from Marche is another one that's been mentioned. But yeah, they
12:03absolutely need to strengthen defensively. I think at centre-back, the
12:08centre-back pairing at the minute is Clinton Inseala, who's been the forgotten
12:11man a wee bit from the summer signing sweep in the summer, and they'd been
12:15relegated to the B team for most of the season until they appeared at Dens. And
12:18then Robin Cropper, who probably, at the start of January, people would have been,
12:22you know, in a Sam Lammers-style deal, would have been happy enough if he went
12:27back to the Eredivisie or something on a six-month loan with a view to going back
12:30there permanently. I think that's the stage fans were at with him. So for they
12:33two to now be the pretty much nailed-on starting duo just shows the level of,
12:39you know, injuries and lack of depth they've got there. It does pose a
12:42question over Leon King, the fact that, you know, he's waited so long for a
12:46chance. He was so highly rated. I can remember in the Giovane Broncos era,
12:49there were loads of links for him going to big clubs down south. He was playing
12:53in the Champions League. Seen as a real, you know, maybe even if it wasn't for
12:57then, certainly maybe by this stage, two or three years on, somebody who could be
13:01a regular for that backline hasn't happened. So you wonder whether, you
13:05know, what his long-term future looks like if he's still not getting in the
13:09team despite these severe injuries. But yeah, I think they definitely need a
13:13centre-back. I would argue they maybe need two, given Leon Balligan's now into
13:18his mid-30s. Casuaneiro is going to be out for the rest of the season and John
13:22Suter's obviously injury history isn't the best either. So I think they need at
13:26least one, possibly two. And at left-back as well, I think they could do a
13:30Versatile full-back as well because, again, Ridvan Yilmaz is, I would imagine
13:35it's probably not been ideal to have him playing every three or four days, given
13:38his injury record as well. So definitely think it's an area where they probably
13:42need one, two, possibly three players in various positions.
13:46Lots of issues for Rangers to sort out, certainly. With over a fortnight of the
13:51window left to go, we'll leave it there for today's recording. Ben, stay
13:56tuned to the next January transfer bulletin from Glasgow World in the
14:01coming days. And here's hoping that the transfer business certainly starts to
14:06ramp up over the next couple of weeks.