Cameron Carter-Vickers, Carl Starfelt, Stephen Welsh and – to an extent – Christopher Jullien. A relatively solid set of central defensive options it seems, especially having the best defensive record in the SPFL.
Just ten goals conceded in 20 league games, it has set an outstanding precedent in terms of building blocks under Ange Postecoglou.
Carter-Vickers especially has been an inspired loan signing, with a reported £6million needed to permanently secure his services seeming a bargain.
But it could have been all so very different had Celtic chosen to sign another target in the summer – former star Erik Sviatchenko.
The 30-year-old joined Celtic in 2016 from FC Midtjylland, and instantly shone under Brendan Rodgers, before injury woes beset his playing time and he returned to Denmark just two years later.
But the board wanted to sign him in a shock return this summer – after Midtjylland had knocked Celtic out of the Champions League qualifying stages – before Postecoglou rejected the chance of a reunion, according to the Dane.
“There was actually a little bit of truth in it,” Sviatchenko told the Scottish Sun.
“We had some initial talks with Celtic but the new manager wanted players that he had to choose. As I understood it, I was highly-rated and someone who could have been considered but they took a different centre-back.
“It was nice to be linked and it did blow up on the internet which was fun to be a part of. It was just between my agent and the club. It was a hectic speculation time. It was of course an annoying period. After January 17, I had just played one full season.
“I played every single game almost for the first six months under Ronny, and then the first six months under Brendan.”
Sviatchenko was so impressive in his time at Paradise that clubs from the Premier League took notice, such as recent Premier League winners Leicester City.
The Foxes reportedly bid around £11m for his services, although that bid was rejected in the hope of claiming more money from the recently-crowned Premier League champions.
Copyright: Dejan Obretkovic
But whilst Sviatchenko wasn’t bothered about the bid being rejected, he felt annoyed that he was ousted from the Celtic team in the aftermath.
“Leicester City were ready to pay big money I think. They had an offer rejected of around £10million or £11m from Celtic. I was really in doubt as well if I wanted to go.
“So I said to Celtic, ‘Listen, I might stay if it’s okay?’ In the end, Celtic said ‘You are our key player, and we want you to say’. I think they wanted £13m or something like that.
“At that point, Leicester had £15m to pay for two centre-backs, so they said they could maybe pay £7m up front and then loan the other, but Celtic weren’t agreeing to those terms which I respected and thought, ‘Okay, I’ll just be even better for the next season or two and we’ll see what happens and I might have my move one day, because that’s normal in football’.
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