[Link] John McGinn

.. assuming that nobody else will move for him. Which they will.

 

So be it. We might get a player Id have a bit of confidence in Europe with instead of a safe bet to continue dominating domestically.

 

We need a strong squad of options and with injuries to take into account Brown probably won't play every game either.

think we will rotate something like this....

..........................Brown/McGinn/Ntcham/................
New RW/Forrest..........Rogic/McGregor..............Edouard/Sinclair/Morgan
..............................Dembele'/Griffiths/Edouard

that's a right strong team middle to front and depending on who the winger is we bring in to replace Roberts.
It has a good balance of Scottish home grown players wich we always have as a solid base and European ones too.

 

Would be smart for us to let Hibs sweat until the dying days of the window considering we don't really need him unless Brown or Ntcham get injured. Hibs can't afford to keep him until January and if it's a done deal he's coming here then we hold all the power, £2million+ Allan is plenty considering we've given them Commons, Ambrose, Allan, Henderson, Stokes, McGeouch over the last couple of years for peanuts.

 

What category did Brown fit into when we signed him, in your opinion?

 

Exactly he's already proved himself more than capable in this league so little settling in period knows the league , Brown's toughest competitor and has 9 caps or so for Scotland at 23 he's not even been given a chance to play in Europe yet so how do we know how he will do ?

 

GK: Gordon/Bain/De Vries
RB: Lustig/Hendry/Gamboa/Ralston
CB: Ajer/Bitton/Hendry
CB: Boyata/Simunovic/Compper
LB: Tierney/McGregor/Hayes/Miller
DM: Brown/McGinn/Bitton
CM: Ntcham/McGinn/McGregor/Bitton/Eboue
RWB: Forrest
LWB: Tierney/McGregor/McGinn/Hayes
AM: Rogic/Edouard/McGregor/Morgan/Christie
RW: Forrest/McGregor/Christie/Morgan
LW: Sinclair/McGregor/Morgan/Hayes
ST: Dembele/Griffiths/Edouard

I think we'll mostly play 3-4-2-1 with 2 attacking midfielders and wing-backs.

We really only need 2 more players I think, an attacking right-back to give us balance in a 4 in the back, a right wing-back as competition/back-up to Forrest since nobody else in the squad can play there - Odubajo alone could hopefully fix both problems. Then we need a centre-back with enough pace to play at the side of the back 3 hopefully another guy like Boyata.

I wouldn't replace Paddy Roberts, mostly as I don't think he will cut it in England and we could actually get him in a year or two but also we don't really need someone now that we have the options of Forrest, Rogic, McGregor, Edouard, Griffiths, Dembele, Sinclair and Morgan for only 4 positions.

I'd probably let go De Vries, Gamboa, Compper and sell Simunovic for around £5million to use the money to replace him with someone more suited to playing on the side of a back 3. Loan out Miller, possibly Ralston and Christie given they are unlikely to get a game.

 

I we pay anything over 2 for this player someone is seriously deluded at CP

 

Brendan did say the other day we will be replacing Armstrong (and) Roberts in the squad before looking to strengthen at other positions.

 

Weird the reaction to him tbh, I wasn't a big fan of Hartley and Robson - thought they were old and past their best when we signed them but they done ok and were solid players. McGinn is considerably better than both and could play here for a good 10 years as he's only 23.

 

Replacing Roberts could be Odubajo, Roberts mostly always played on the right - I think the main reason he never got a game last season was becaue we moved from playing "wingers" to "wing-backs" and Roberts then couldn't really compete with Forrest who is very solid defensively and could work up and down the park all day compared to Roberts who didn't have the engine and is also poor defensively.

So we'd essentially be replacing Roberts with another quality right-sided player only it'd be more a defender than attacker?

 

Can't wait to see him in his no7 Jersey..

 

CELTIC have made a move to land Scotland star John McGinn and have also enquired about Liverpool winger Harry Wilson.

The Scottish champions made an official approach to Hibs about McGinn.

Express Sport understands that an opening offer has been turned down but talks will continue.

The highly-rated midfielder was rated at £3 million in the last window although he is now in the final year of his contract.

Celtic could also offer midfielder Scott Allan, who was on loan at Hibs last season, on top of any cash deal.

Brendan Rodgers is keen to add to his squad and has already sold midfielder Stuart Armstrong to Southampton for £7 million while Patrick Roberts has returned to Manchester City after a successful loan.

Rodgers has been a long-term admirer of McGinn and is keen to try and get a deal done ahead of the Champions League opener against Alashkert next week.

McGinn has been a target of a number of English clubs, including Nottingham Forest, but he has never hidden his desire to play for his boyhood heroes.

Celtic have also asked Liverpool about Welsh cap Wilson's availability.

Liverpool have told them he is available and the financial package it would take for a loan but that has not been followed up as yet.

Transfer chief Lee Congleton is also looking at other options.

Rodgers knows Wilson well from his own time at Liverpool.

He is also aware the 21-year-old did well at Hull City last season and is not short of admirers.

The Tigers want him back while English Championship rivals Norwich City also want him.

Celtic's pursuit of a winger has also become more paramount with the news that Jonny Hayes will miss the Champions League trip to Armenia.

The Republic of Ireland cap has been ruled out for 10 days with an injury suffered in the weekend defeat to Bohemians.

Rodgers, who will see his team take on Sparta Prague tonight, has also held talks with out-of-contract Hull defender Moses Odubajo since he has been in Austria.

There is also the possibility of further outgoing with Celtic preparing a £25 million bid for Kieran Tierney. It remains to be seen if that will even be entertained by the Parkhead hierarchy.

 

Celtic have John McGinn bid rebuffed as Hoops make opening move to sign Hibs star
Brendan Rodgers has upped the ante as he chases the £4million-rated Easter Road midfielder.

Celtic last night launched their first bid to land Hibs ace John McGinn

Record Sport understands Parkhead chiefs have made official contact with their Easter Road counterparts about a deal for the 23-year-old.

McGinn has been the subject of interest from the champions as he moves into the final year of his Leith contract.

Exact figures are unclear, however it is believed the bid was well below Hibs' valuation and has been rebuffed, but the Glasgow giants will go in an again with an improved offer.

Hibs boss Neil Lennon has stated it will take at least £4 million to get McGinn out of his club with there also being solid English interest in the full Scotland international.

However, having banked £7m from the sale of Stuart Armstrong to Southampton, Celtic can easily afford to fund a switch for the Easter Road man as an engine-room replacement.

Manager Brendan Rodgers has spoken about replacing Armstrong and Patrick Roberts before beginning the strengthening process this summer and McGinn is now firmly in the sights.

The former St Mirren starlet, who is grandson of former Parkhead chief Jack, has developed into a major Ladbrokes Premiership star during three years in Leith, but he’s now in line for a next step up the career ladder.

 

Looks like Hibs really want to sell him to England. I say just pay the cash. It is a very difficult position to fill, and their aren't all that many left sided central midfielders knocking around.
For that reason i'd just be like here's your four, we're keeping Scott Allan. * ye.
I honestly don't think we need much more and he will not be a Celtic pin up, but he'll certainly have the right attitude and be easy to work with. But really it ticks all the boxes and the main one being players like this are difficult to find.

 

He's worse, could end up better under Rodgers though.

 

The player will have a say in where he wants to go and my guess is he'll jump at the chance to come to us.

 

Don't see why there's so much negative reaction, do people really not see the similarly to Brown as a younger player and how much he's developed over the years?

I'm not saying McGinn will be that good who knows, he might never get a game, but we should always be looking to have a spine of the best Scottish talent in the team and he's shown he can cut it better than most against us in the league, why shouldn't we be able to develop him further.

 

Brendan and Lenny will have been speaking about this for months no doubt, they seem very close.

As I have said before I don't know how I actually rate him, but for me he isn't in the £3m plus bracket, people comparing him to brown 10 year ago I dunno.