As we revealed on The Celtic Star yesterday, the Premier League team wants Nicolas Kühn to replace departed £55 million star Bryan Mbuemo, an attacker for Brentford, should the player leave West London for Manchester United.
The Bees are reportedly asking for £55 million for the player, but it appears that both the player and the buying club are eager to complete the deal – and Brentford rarely stand in the way of players looking for a big move because they are sold on the player trading model when signing on with the club (as happens at Celtic).
During the January transfer window, Celtic sold Kyogo to Rennes and signed Jota from the same club. It appears that there was a two-way conversation during the transaction, resulting in a nearly identical exchange, albeit Celtic may have paid somewhat less for Jota than Rennes did for Kyogo.
That may be a method worth pursuing for Celtic, given there were whispers in January that Kris Ajer and Brendan Rodgers were in talks about returning to the club.
Now, nothing happened in January, but now that the season is over, may Celtic revisit it? Kris Ajer is still in the Brentford squad, but he has evolved into a utility player rather than a regular starter.
Kris Ajer played 1443 minutes in the EPL last season, appearing in only 24 games and playing in five different positions. At the age of 27 and with 42 caps for his country, it may be the right time for Celtic to test the waters, if the pieces fall into place and Mbueno moves to Old Trafford – and assuming reports are correct and our German winger wants a go at a top-five league.
I’d be sad to see Nicolas Kühn leave Celtic, not only because his goals and assists would be difficult to replace, but also because he shone in Europe’s top competition during the Champions League, but after that goal in Munich, which had us all dreaming of knocking Bayern Munich out in their own backyard, it’s probably fair to say the wide-man’s form dropped significantly.
There could be a variety of reasons for this. He may be a streaky player, as we saw in his first season at Celtic vs how he began the second. He could have been pining for a January transfer window move and been instructed to wait until the summer, or he could simply be perplexed by Celtic selling their top striker in the January window and not replacing him. After all, if you think that sort of thing irritates spectators, consider the message it sends to the dressing room and players with ambition.
If Kühn does go, I don’t think anyone will be surprised, but if Celtic could arrange a trade that included Kris Ajer leaving, perhaps that would help to lessen the blow?
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