With Celtic linked this morning with a £5m move for Tomas Kalas there is another central defender playing in the Championship that would instantly settle into the club.
Step forward Charlie Mulgrew. Although he signed an extension to his Blackburn contract in November, committing him to the club until the summer of 2021 the prospect of returning to Celtic, possibly under Neil Lennon must carry lots of appeal.
Last week the goal scoring, free kick and corner taking defender turned 33 but deep into his second season in The Championship the physical demands aren’t an issue. For a comparison he is the same age as Marvin Compper.
The manner of his withdrawal from the Europa League defeat from Ajax rankles with some Celtic fans but since he left in the summer of 2016 central defence has been a constant weakness in the team.
Efe Ambrose and Eoghan O’Connell played in Champions League qualifiers, Kolo Toure was drafted in as emergency cover, Erik Sviatchenko and Jozo Simunovic were tried, away to Astana in 2017 Nir Bitton was paired with Kris Ajer.
The current preferred partnership of Dedryck Boyata and Filip Benkovic will be elsewhere in July making a move for Mulgrew more important than ever.
Celtic have spent three years getting nowhere in particular looking for a central defensive blend, alongside Ajer Mulgrew would be the perfect foil to bring out the best in the impressive young Norwegian with no settling in time required.
While his defensive play is more than passable a look at Celtic’s set-pieces without Leigh Griffiths in the side makes for painful viewing.
Mulgrew will be delivering mean free kicks and corners for a few more years, seeing him back at Celtic would solve more than a few problems with minimal risk.
