Celtic will take Ivorian international striker Boubacar Sanogo on trial next week. Neil Lennon has been looking to add another striker to his squad before the start of the Europa League, and has already confirmed that he will run the rule over South African forward Katlego Mphela this coming week. Sanogo has spent the last two years at AS Saint Etienne following a successful four year spell in Germany with Kaiserslautern, SV Hamburg and Werder Bremen. He started his career in Tunisia, before moving to the UAE with Al Ain. A record of almost a goal every game saw interest from Europe, as Kaiserslautern signed the Ivory Coast international. Despite the best efforts of the striker, his side were relegated. However, his record of ten goals in 24 games attracted interest from Hamburg, where he spent the 2006/07 season. A move to Werder Bremen was slightly more fruitful, as the striker managed 11 goals in 42 games. He moved to St Etienne in 2009 for 3.5 million Euros. The 28-year-old striker has been capped 18 times for his country, scoring eight goals, including three in the 2008 African Nations Cup 2 strikers and 2 keepers on trial next week at the very least. I appreciate Lennon wants to run the rule over these lads before making any decisions, but if they havent done enough to convince the scouts before now what chance is any of them signing and getting a game over lads that have done enought to impress the scouts and management? Also at 28 and bought for 3.5m Euro why are they letting him go out on trial?
Dont get me wrong - we could unearth a gem however its more likely that if they do sign they wont be good enough to get a game ahead of Stokes, hooper or samaras so they'll fight with Murphy for a sub role or a run out in the cup maybe at some point, or be there in the event everyone else is injured Thats not what we need. We need a striker who will take the place of Stokes, Hooper or Samaras and push one of them to more regular bench duty and push Murphy out the door Squad players - we have enough of them
Its easy and true to say that we don't need squad players because at the moment we have few suspensions, known loss of form or injuries. When the above kick in and they usually do and if they occur in one department of the team, that is when you know if you want squad players. I think Neil was either exceptionally talented or exceptionally lucky as he brought in a host of untried and unproven players and most of them had first class seasons. If the 3 or 4 or 5 untried players he brings in this season do as well we will all be happy. How do you know if a younger unproven player is going to be a squad player or a star.
