It is fair to say that Celtic and their recruitment team did not enjoy the deadline day that they were hoping for at the end of the summer transfer window on Monday night.
The Hoops went into Monday wanting two wingers and two centre-forwards to bolster their squad until at least January, but they were unable to get what they wanted.
Sebastian Tounekti joined the club on a permanent deal from Hammarby to add to Brendan Rodgers’ options in the wide areas, as a player who has predominantly played on the left wing in his career to date.
However, the Scottish Premiership champions did not add a single number nine to their squad before the window slammed shut, despite allowing Adam Idah to complete an initial £6m move to EFL Championship side Swansea City.
The Hoops were then forced to look at the free agent market to find a replacement for the Ireland international, and Kelechi Iheanacho arrived after his contract with Sevilla was ripped up on Monday night.
Celtic had to swoop for Iheanacho, who worked with Rodgers at Leicester, because they were unable to get a deal done for Kasper Dolberg before the deadline.
Why missing out on Dolberg was a blow for Celtic
The Scottish giants were linked with an interest in the Denmark international heading into the final days of the transfer window, but they failed to agree a deal with Anderlecht, and he went on to sign for Dutch side Ajax later in the week.
Reporter Stephen McGowan has since revealed that the transfer did not happen for several reasons: the club bid too low in their first attempt to sign him, the player was not sold on Celtic, the player was not too keen on Glasgow.
However it happened, missing out on a deal for Dolberg was a blow for the Hoops because he could have arrived at Parkhead as an upgrade on Idah for Rodgers.
The Danish marksman’s form for Anderlecht in the 2024/25 campaign suggested that he would have been a terrific signing for the club, hence why they were keen to bring him in in the first place.
Appearances (starts)
31 (30)
35 (19)
xG
16.70
N/A
Goals
18
13
Conversion rate
22%
17%
Goals from outside the box
3
2
Assists
2
0
Duel success rate
50%
41%
As you can see in the table above, Dolberg scored five more goals than Idah at league level last season, with a greater conversion rate in front of goal, and performed better in his physical duels.
The 27-year-old centre-forward also scored five goals in nine games for Anderlecht at the start of the current campaign, per Transfermarkt, before he completed his permanent move to Ajax after Celtic failed to sign him.
This is why missing out on Dolberg was such a big blow for the Hoops, because the striker is in the prime years of his career and could have come in as a player who would have been ready to hit the ground running as an instant upgrade on what Rodgers previously had.
Instead, Celtic have had to take a risk signing Iheanacho on a free transfer, after the Nigeria international scored one goal in 24 league matches for Sevilla and Middlesbrough last season, per Sofascore.
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Another risky move the manager could make would be to unleash a player from the B team who could potentially emerge as his own version of Dolberg – Rhys Dargie.
Why Celtic should give Rhys Dargie a chance
Whether it is in a League Cup match or off the bench in the Scottish Premiership, Rodgers should look to present the young attacker with a chance to prove his worth at first-team level.
Celtic are clearly in a difficult position with their strikers, given that they felt the need to sign Iheanacho as a free agent after the window slammed shut, but they have a talented goalscorer in their academy set-up who may have the potential to make an impact for Rodgers.
In July, Broxburn reporter Stu Mclellan described Dargie as “some talent” after his impressive performance in a 3-2 win for Celtic’s B team against Broxburn on the opening day of the Lowland League season.
The 18-year-old starlet is a versatile talent who can play centrally or out wide. Interestingly, Dolberg played on the right wing and as a striker at U19 level for Ajax in his academy days, per Transfermarkt, and this Celtic youngster could follow in his footsteps.
Dargie has shown impressive instincts in front of goal at youth level, as evidenced by his goal in the clip above. The teenage whiz reacted brilliantly in a central position to divert the ball into the back of the net from Jude Bonnar’s effort.
Appearances
16
10
Minutes
894
707
Goals
9
4
Minutes per goal
99
176
Assists
0
3
As you can see in the table above, the Celtic B star has a very impressive goalscoring record at youth level with 13 goals in 26 games since the start of last season.
In that time frame, Dargie averaged a goal every 123 minutes. Interestingly, Dolberg also averaged a goal every 123 minutes in all competitions for Anderlecht last term, with 24 goals in 2,963 minutes, per Transfermarkt.
This suggests that Celtic have a player in their academy who has the potential to be just as prolific as Dolberg if he can translate his form over to the first-team.
Although Dargie has played a lot of his football as a right-winger, the teenage talent’s goalscoring instincts suggest that the club could get the best out of him in the centre-forward position, particularly given his impressive goal return, which is the route that Dolberg also went down in the Ajax academy.
Therefore, Rodgers could unearth his own version of Dolberg by boldly unleashing this impressive youngster as a striker for the first-team in the coming weeks.
