SENTINELCELTS

As its transfer time and knowledge is power if the old saying is true I spent precisely the wee ones morning nap to scour the continental moves taking place and see if anything jumps out.
The following transfers do jump out , though more as a guide not a you slept in cheap pot shot at the club.
We have heard the rumours etc and will address transfers if and when they happen as if we were to start writing about speculation,,you would be there all year long for starters never mind wasting your time a lot.

1,,,Pacey Greek winger and sometimes supporting striker Anastasios Bakasetas was one of the reasons I was saying at the time that we should not expect to beat AEK and it was a toss up.
A 25 year old he has 21 caps to his name and painfully of course Champions league experience at our expense .
One would imagine him watching Oh Ah Samaras in the Hoops as a boy .
He has never left his home country and even though he still has three years left on his contract and is about to peak he has just been bought by another in country team Alanyaspor for 800,000 Euros .

2,,, Ante Majstorovic jumped out because of the name but check out these stats.
An uncapped Croatian he is 25 so just about to hit his peak and stands at just under 6 foot 7 inches and his position is,,,,yes you guessed it correct hes a centre back.
Like our Greek friend above he has only played in country and moved to NK Lokomotiva for a cool one million Euro three years ago . He went on loan to Dinamo Zagreb to play the season past where he was a key player being in the starting eleven 89%.
He has decided he isnt sticking around though and has joined another in country team NK Osijek for 400 thousand Euro.

3,,, Michal Travnik is Czech and also 25 like the lads above plus just like the other two has never left his home country to play elsewhere. He is a central midfielder who started 136 games and scored a not to shabby 30 goals for FK Jablonec which has lead Sparta Prague to fork out 1.8 million Euros for his middle of the park services next season. Those nice stats have also earned him call ups to the national squad for recent friendlies so he seems to be on the rise and found his mojo and got his move to the big club.

Finally,,,Quincy Promes.
Quincy is a Dutch International winger come striker who found himself in Moscow then Seville for a season and has now been brought home by Ajax who have holes to fill as we all know.
At 27 he is in his prime and the Spanish side will take a slight hit on the player but he will still cost the Amsterdam side 14.2 million. He scored against England not too long ago .
He will sign a five year deal to cover his prime years and we will probably hear much more of his name now.

The first three players as mentioned are merely intended to show that if you buy from clubs outwith the big five or six leagues there can be tremendous value.
Yes all three players will have been overseas scouted of course , and obviously found lacking for whatever team was looking at the time I understand that .
But when we see the level of our punts and what players in their prime can be bought for elsewhere it really makes you stop and think.
All three of the players mentioned are about to peak and are on the lower scale of our signings bracket usually .
The next diamond in the rough is everyone’s fairytale , and Bayo’s 18 in 23 made Celtic bite. But when his two million is held up next to what is cheap , there ,ready and proven at 25 years old then does he seem such a bargain?
25 years old might not suit our get mega millions from the Epl model , but there are solid cheap players out there that will do the job here and now never mind the money coming back down the road.
One thing though,,when you read transfers like we seen above , and then you hear people saying the value isnt there ,, then they are looking in the wrong place.
Also at that price its not the end of the world if not working out and as far as Im concerned Bakasetas passed his live in house job interview also.

The last player is clearly different and I highlighted him for a reason.
We all just watched Ajax win hearts and minds with their football and it seems they are back for want of a better phrase. BUT we see the usual global giants swoop for their starlets as always happens ,, ie the pecking order.
Well they have seemingly been well prepared for openings up top and on the left wing and have actually went and taken a player in his prime from a club in a bigger league,,chapeau !
That the player is Dutch is key but that goes to show you they knew there was a quality compatriot out there who would come home and cover that spot now for the prime years of his career,,all for a mere 14 million which is a fraction of what they are pulling in.
Infact if this boy stars for the next two years then at 29 he might tempt someone to grab him at another huge profit,,and the wheel turns again.
Ajax had their homework done and will now reap the benefits.
They have decided to go with the finished article in this case not a project even though projects usually turn out well . They have recognised the value of here and now and seen it in that player.
That player probably see’s a club with a plan , and knows that he is spending his best days going somewhere , settled and receiving adulation.

The lessons here are simple ,, great value to be found outside the big leagues and bringing in players in their prime sometimes is the smart move and should be done full stop.

Theres a right mix of projects , prime , and the experienced that we must strive to achieve.
Well done the Celts last night as the mostly Colts hit back from a goal down to win 6 -1 .
The first stretch out of the season just flew in,,not even July yet.

We would love to publish your thoughts on the team and its direction. Call it straight and email it to sentinelcelts@gmail.com