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Celtic: Tommy Smith swoop would help Bhoys move on from Lustig
With three players already signed up, Neil Lennon has been active in trying to put his stamp on the Celtic squad he inherited from Brendan Rodgers.
Still, one position that still needs some work is right-back, following Mikael Lustig’s exit (BBC), and The Daily Record have linked the Hoops with a move for Huddersfield’s Tommy Smith.
The Championship defender is being linked with a move to Parkhead, yet the Terriers reportedly want £4m to let their defender go whilst the Bhoys are only supposedly willing to part with £3m, and the two parties are believed to be locked in talks.
At the moment, Smith is with the Huddersfield squad in their pre-season tour of Austria but it’s claimed that the Yorkshire side are still willing to do business and move the player on if the price is right.
Lennon has put an obvious emphasis on recruiting for his backline. We’ve already seen left-back Boli Mbombo join the club (BBC) following on from centre-half Christopher Jullien (BBC) and defensive midfielder Luca Connell (BBC), and now it looks like the right-side of the Hoops’ defence is being reinforced.
Lustig came in for a lot of criticism during his last campaign in Glasgow. Back in March, the Swede opened up on that criticism, via The Daily Record, as he faced an uncertain future, now, though, he’s out of the door and a replacement is needed.
Last season, alongside Lustig, the man relied upon to provide competition at right full-back was Borussia Dortmund loanee Jeremy Toljan, although now the German has returned and the club are lacking in that area of the pitch. With that in mind, Smith could be a good fit.
Indeed, Terriers fan site Talk of the Town 1908 compiled a breakdown on the player’s improvement under former boss David Wagner in 2017, citing Smith’s ability to ‘play almost as an orthodox right midfielder when Town are in possession’, though life obviously got much more difficult for the club as a whole last season in the Premier League.
With Celtic averaging 63% possession (per FootyStats), perhaps that kind of attacking impetus previously mentioned can help freshen things up and allow the Hoops to attack from more areas of the pitch. Having recorded 18 assists in the blue and white of Huddersfield Town, the raw tools do appear to be there if a fee can be worked out.
Celtic fans, would you be happy with a move for Tommy Smith? Comment below and let us know!
