Celtic are reported to be showing interest in signing Ladislav Almasi if they are unsuccessful in bringing Cho Gue-Sung to Scotland.
It seems to be quite a drop in quality to go from someone who scored twice in the World Cup Finals to the 13 goal Banik Ostrava striker.
The source of the story appears to be Banik fan Rudolf LudvÃk who had 382 Twitter followers at 7am this morning.
That snippet was enough for Robbie Copeland to launch a story late on Tuesday in the Daily Record:
Celtic will reportedly look to previous target Ladislav Almasi if their pursuit of Cho Gue-sung doesn’t go to plan.
Ange Postecoglou is believed to be in the market for a new striker after Record Sport revealed Giorgos Giakoumakis’ contract talks broke down, leaving the club open to January offers for the Greek. Postecoglou hasn’t started Giakoumakis since returning from the World Cup break with firing Kyogo the firm favourite up front and if he does leave, they seem likely to sign another front man.
World Cup star Gue-sung appears to be the main target to that end and he has established household name status in his homeland after becoming the first South Korean ever to net multiple goals in a single World Cup game against Ghana. He’s posed for the cover of Vogue and could bring his new movie-star level appeal to Parkhead with a price tag of around £2million mooted.
Back in the summer though they were linked with Banik Ostrava striker Almasi, who has been firing in the goals for the Czech side. He featured against the Hoops in a summer friendly and Postecoglou was even directly asked if he was interested in the towering striker by local media.
He dodged that question and no offer arrived but fresh reports in the Czech Republic claim he is the plan B if their pursuit of Gue-Sung doesn’t go to plan. It comes from Rudolf Ludvik, who has a following for covering Banik Ostrava stories on social media and has frequently covered Celtic’s reported interest.
The news comes amid alternative reports claiming Gue-Sung is on the radar of Fenerbahce and Rennes, although it’s widely believed Celtic are still favourites. If they do end up looking to Almasi instead, Ludvik claims it will cost Celtic around €2.5m (£2.2m) to land the 23-year-old who has five goals in seven appearances this season.
Almasi may well be a decent striker but it is quite a stretch to put up a case for him being a step up on Giorgos Giakoumakis and Kyogo Furuhashi.
Recent experiences have shown that with the exception of Jeremie Frimpong ‘project signings’ are unlikely to develop into first team players at Celtic.
Liam Scales, Osaze Urhoghide, Liam Shaw and Johnny Kenny are all currently out on loan and making no in-roads towards becoming starters in Ange Postecoglou’s side.
? Celtic Glasgow nenà jediný, kdo chce podepsat jihokorejce Cho Gue-Sung, do boje o n?j se p?idalo turecké Fenerbahce a francouzské Rennes, naopak zájem ztratil Ferencváros a Borussia Dortmund. Jestli se Celticu nepoda?à podepsat jihokorejce, na ?ad? je Laco Almási ??? #FCB
— Rudolf LudvÃk (@RudolfLudvik) December 26, 2022
Google translation.
Celtic Glasgow is not the only one who wants to sign South Korean Cho Gue-Sung, Turkish Fenerbahce and French Rennes have joined the fight for him, while Ferencváros and Borussia Dortmund have lost interest. If Celtic fail to sign the South Korean, it’s Laco Almási’s turn
CLICK HERE for Almasi Transfermarkt profile.
CLICK HERE for Google news search for Celtic and Almasi.
Had you heard of Cho Gue Sung before World Cup? Of FC JeonBuk Hyundai Motors ?? every World Cup has unknowns who do well in 1 or 2 games & folk take a punt on them, More often than not they are useless in Europe & disappear. Who knows how good he actually is. Ladislav Almasi is actually very good & used to European football & culture. He’s better than Giakoumakis, who i don’t think is anything great at all. Fans make up songs for players 2 minutes in the door. In long list of Celtic strikers he’s way down the list.