It appears Celtic are hoping to purchase a new striker this month in order to boost their title credentials ahead of a history-defining end to the campaign.
What’s the word?
According to a report from The Sunday Post, Neil Lennon is eager to sign two new strikers this month.
The players in question are Sheffield United’s Billy Sharp and the lesser-known Andraz Sporar, who plys his trade in Slovakia with Slovan Bratislava.
Talks are reportedly underway with the latter though he is also drawing interest from Dynamo Kiev and promotion-chasing Bristol City.
Whether a deal can be struck remains to be seen, but what can Sporar bring to the Scottish Premiership?
A consistently proven goal-machine
Sporar’s goal scoring prowess extends over a lengthy period of time. The 25-year-old may have flown under the radar in Glasgow before rumours linking him with a move to Celtic Park began to surface, but he has been finding the net on a regular basis since he broke onto the scene in Slovenia.
In the 2012/13 season, when he was still a teenager attempting to forge a reputation in the game, he managed to find the net 11 times in just 22 league starts.
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Since that campaign he has played 10 or more league games in six different seasons, and he has reached double figures in four of those. In the 2018/19 season, a return of 19 goals in 20 games, as well as four assists, helped Slovan Bratislava, who he joined for £600k in January 2018, to record 2.7 points per game as the capital outfit clinched top spot in an unbeaten season.
Not only do these stats attest to the 19-cap Slovenia international’s clinical streak in front of goal, they also underline his ability to deal with the expectation and demands of a domestically dominant club.
That should hold him in good stead to make a successful transition to life at Celtic and also win the hearts of the Paradise faithful.
While Odsonne Edouard is undoubtedly the club’s undisputed hitman-in-chief and a firm bet on Lennon’s team sheet, the lack of quality alternatives to the French youngster is a problem that needs addressing.
The evidence from Sporar’s prolific career so far suggests he can resolve that issue and equally give the 21-year-old something to think about over his place in the starting XI.