It’s fair to say that the deadline for the summer transfer period earlier this month didn’t plan exactly what Celtic and Brendan Rodgers planned.
Hoop wanted some additions to the advance line towards the day, so Adam Ida allowed Swansea to sign on a permanent deal.
Sebastian Tounekti arrived from Hammarby in a permanent deal to add to the right-wing manager’s options, but they did not land strikers or right wingers.
Celt reportedly was interested in a contract to sign Yesrun Lak Sakiy on loan from Crystal Palace, but only he will remain at Selhurst Park. Meanwhile, the club made an offer of £10 million to sign Kasper Dolberg from Anderlecht, but lost the race due to his signature to Dutch giant Ajax.
Missing these deals meant that the Scottish Premiership Giants had to work with him in Leicester City, England, to immerse Kelechi Iherenacho in the free agent market to seduce Kelechi Iherenacho into a reunion with Parkhead Rogers.
It remains to be seen whether the former Manchester city will succeed in Glasgow, but Hoops missed Druberg, which was a blow.
Why was Celtic’s blow to miss Casper Dorberg?
Missing a contract to sign Denmark International from Underlect on the deadline was a major blow to Celtic as he could have been the club’s main number nine this season.
As mentioned earlier, Ida’s move to Swansea left the hoop, which requires a new centre forward. Dorberg’s shape in Belgium in recent seasons suggests that he may have been the perfect alternative.
The new Ajax signing launched the current campaign with 44 goals in 96 appearances in all Anderlecht competitions per Transher Markt, and five goals back in nine games.
In particular, Dolberg’s output in the Belgian professional league in the 2024/25 campaign, compared to Prime Minister Ida, shows the bay of the class between the two.
24/25 season | Druberg (Pro League) | Aida (Premiership) |
|---|---|---|
Appearance (start) | 31 (30) | 35 (19) |
xg | 16.70 | n/a |
the goal | 18 | 13 |
Conversion rate | twenty two% | 17% |
Targets from outside the box | 3 | 2 |
assist | 2 | 0 |
Dueling success rate | 50% | 41% |
Statistics via Sofascore | ||
As you can see in the table above, the 27-year-old Marksman may have arrived at Parkhead as a major upgrade to Ireland International this season to provide Rogers with a deadly and reliable centre-forward option.
Instead, Celtic had to gamble at Kelechi Iheanacho.
So, Celtic, who didn’t sign a contract across Druberg’s boundaries on the last week’s deadline, was a major blow in the end for his quality and gambling.
The ninth-placed club options may look quite different, as they once had a striker at trial and are worth more than £20 million than the £10 million bid for Dolberg.
Brighton & Hove Albion is at the heart of Evan Ferguson, who is currently financing at Roma, and previously revealed that he was trialed with the Scottish giant when he was young.
Celt missed Evan Ferguson
When asked last October if Celtic had tried to sign him in a recent season, the striker said, “No, nothing. I went to some trials when I was younger.”
The young Marksman played for the Ireland’s St. Kevin’s Boys and Bohemians before moving to Brighton Academy in 2021, but it’s unclear when he went to trial at the hoop, whether it was just before moving to Brighton or his move to Bohemian.
Either way, Celtic loses the fact that he missed taking him to Glasgow, whether it was their decision or not.
Ferguson went into first-team action at the age of 17, scoring 18 goals in 39 games for Brighton at the U21 level, at the age of 17.
Ireland International scored 17 goals in Brighton’s 80 first team matches, but he may not be able to get the chance to add to that tally as Roma reportedly has the option to sign permanently for a fee of around £35 million.
Ferguson, who played against Hungary in Ireland last weekend, scored two goals in his country’s two games during his current international break, but is still looking for Rome’s first competitive goal.
Evan Ferguson’s Premier League career | |||
|---|---|---|---|
season | xg | the goal | differential |
22/23 | 5.67 | 6 | +0.33 |
23/24 | 3.97 | 6 | +2.03 |
24/25 | 1.36 | 1 | -0.36 |
total | 10.29 | 13 | +1.89 |
Conservative statistics | |||
As you can see from the table above, the finishing quality of the 20-year-old marksman in the Premier League in Brighton suggests that he scores a goal for the Italian side if he offers ample opportunities.
Former Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker compared Manchester City striker Erling Haaland in the 2023/24 campaign, saying, “I’m looking at Haaland’s hints on him, his height, his athleticity, his youth, and more.”
It was a very high praise from the former striker himself, Lineker, who scored six goals from behind Ferguson as a teenage centre forward in the Premier League.
He is now worth £35 million, £25 million more than Celtic is willing to pay Dolberg, and Hoops is something he can do with a talented striker like him on their current team after a hard work on deadline day.