I Don’t Think Celtic Target Steven Caulker Would Be Worth The Risk

 

I can see why people would speculate that Celtic are interested in Dundee defender Steven Caulker.

The Hoops could be about to send Calvin Miller up to Dens Park for a season long loan deal and Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has worked with Caulker at Liverpool and was reportedly interested in the twenty-six year old last year. Plus the Scottish Premiership champions are in desperate need of a new centre back.

People are adding up the numbers and believe that Caluker will end up at Celtic Park.

I’d suggest that move could be a risky one for the Parkhead outfit and one that they may regret if the big defender does indeed arrive in Glasgow’s east end.

The fact is that Caulker didn’t overly impress in the second half of last season, after he signed for Dundee.

He didn’t seem to organise the defence, was average in his tackling stats and wasn’t as good in the air as you’d expect from a six foot plus central defender.

Yes he has been linked with £1m plus transfers this summer but in reality do we really think Dundee would turn that kind of money down for a player entering his final year of his contract? Of course they wouldn’t and that suggests that significant bids weren’t made.

You’ve then got to ask yourself why the former England international hasn’t played for The Dee in their last two games.

Celtic need to be going out and bringing in a strong, dominant centre back and one that’s also in-form, playing regularly and one that can lead from the back. I just can’t accept that Caulker has shown enough at Dundee, or at QPR before that, to suggest that he ticks the right boxes.

In truth, if they signed the former Spurs man, they’d be getting a fragile project signing that needs to somehow rediscover his best form. At the moment Celtic can’t afford to bring in that type of player and rehabilitate him. They kind of already have that in Jack Hendry after his erratic start to the season.

Plus Rodgers isn’t actually known for getting more from his defenders, so it would surely make more sense to sign someone that already established and ready to command the backline.

Now I’ve been wrong in the past and I could be with my assessment regarding Steven Caulker, but my head says that he’s just not worth the risk for Celtic.

In the end I think they’d be buying the name and not solving their current issues.

 

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