Former Celtic striker Charlie Nicholas has identified a Belgian defender who he feels could be an astute transfer target for the Hoops in the January window.
Speaking to the Daily Express [via Daily Record], the 58-year-old named Standard Liege centre-back Zinho Vanheusden as a player who the Scottish champions should consider.
Nicholas feels that, if Celtic bring the 20-year-old to Parkhead, they could attract tremendous sell-on value for him further down the line, while he also praised the youngster’s ball-playing ability.
He told the Daily Express [via Daily Record]: “One player I have watched quite a bit and heard a lot of good things about is Standard Liege defender Zinho Vanheusden.
“The Belgian is only 20 but his wages would be relatively low, although he’d probably cost around £6m or £7m.
“Vanheusden is a passing centre-half who is making a good reputation for himself. He would come with big sell-on value potential, which Celtic always like.”
Nicholas’ point about the possible sell-on value of a young player like Vanheusden is a very relevant one, given Celtic’s previous in this regard.
Moussa Dembele was signed on a free transfer from Fulham in 2016 before moving on to Lyon two years later for £19.7m (as per BBC).
Virgil van Dijk cost the Hoops just £2.6m in 2013 (as per BBC) and then sold him to Southampton for five times that amount (£13m, as per BBC) in 2015.
Victor Wanyama was a £900,00 signing (as per Scotzine) in 2011 and, like Van Dijk, he swapped Parkhead for Southampton after two years in a deal reported by BBC to be worth £12.5m.
Nicholas’ description of Vanheusden as “a passing centre-half” is true to an extent, with the young Belgian’s passing success rate of 83.6% better than that managed by Celtic centre-backs Kristoffer Ajer (83.3%) and Christopher Jullien (82%).
His average of 35.4 passes per game in the Europa League group stage was less than both Ajer (53.8) and Jullien (47.2), although it’s worth noting that he played fewer minutes in the competition (369) than the Celtic duo (Ajer 495, Jullien 496).
With Jozo Simunovic a long-term injury victim and Jack Hendry barely featuring under Neil Lennon, defensive midfielder Nir Bitton has lined out mainly at centre-back this season, which indicates that the Hoops do not have much strength in depth in this sector of the pitch.
Therefore, Nicholas is sensibly suggesting that the club should make a move for Vanheusden, a young prospect with passing ability to rival Celtic’s current centre-backs and who would add much-needed defensive depth as well as potentially being sold on at a significant profit in later years, just like Van Dijk, Wanyama and Dembele before him.
Celtic fans, do you agree with Nicholas’ suggestion of Vanheusden as a possible transfer target for the Hoops? Comment below with your views!
