Opinion: Celtic interest in winger shouldn't affect £6m plus deal

It has been reported that Celtic are interested in signing Schalke winger Rabbi Matondo. The German website WAZ reports that the German side are preparing to sell the 21-year-old winger, and that Celtic and city rivals Rangers are both interested in signing the player.

The report states that Schalke are keen on selling the player is he going into the last 12 months of his contract, which makes sense, as they won’t want to lose the player on a free transfer. Last season the attacker was on loan at Cercle Brugge, where he scored 10 goals in 27 games.

What is interesting about Celtic’s interest in the Welshman, is that it comes during the Hoops’ bid to get another winger, Jota, to sign for the club on a permanent basis.

There has been a lot of speculation about Celtic and Jota, with the Daily Record recently reporting that the Hoops have agreed to pay the £6.4m fee to Benfica for the player, but discussions are ongoing about his wages and the length of the deal.

There could be some concern from Celtic fans that the Hoops are looking to sign Matondo as there may be a chance that Jota won’t return to the club.

But the interest in Matondo shouldn’t affect Celtic trying to get the deal to sign Jota completed. Indeed, having four first-team wingers on the books could be a good idea for the Bhoys when you consider how many fixtures the team will play next season.

As it stands, the first choice wingers at Celtic are Jota and Liel Abada, with James Forrest also an option. Daizen Maeda can also play in that role, but he has also played as a striker.

The potential signing of Matondo would give the Hoops four natural wingers to choose from, and with so many games in domestic football and the Champions League group stages ahead, it