Heading into the final few days of the summer transfer window, Celtic head coach Brendan Rodgers made it clear that he did not want Adam Idah to leave unless he had already been replaced.
The Hoops boss confirmed that he told the board that the Ireland international should not be allowed to move to Swansea unless another striker had been signed.
However, it got to deadline day a couple of days later and the former Norwich City centre-forward completed a £6m move to EFL Championship team Swansea City, despite the fact that Celtic had not signed any strikers.
This meant that the Scottish Premiership giants ended the summer transfer window with Johnny Kenny and Shin Yamada as their only two senior options in the number nine position.
However, Celtic have moved to address their lack of options in that role in the free agent market by swooping to sign Nigeria international Kelechi Iheanacho.
The Hoops were touted with interest in the left-footed forward late in the day on Monday, and Sevilla then ripped up his contract to allow him to sign for the club on Tuesday, after the deadline.
What Kelechi Iheanacho could bring to Celtic
The 28-year-old striker is an intriguing signing for the Scottish giants because he was once a very highly-rated prospect in the Premier League during his time with Manchester City and Leicester.
Iheanacho, who worked with Rodgers during his time with the Foxes, played eight seasons in the English top-flight, and you do not stay in one of the best leagues in the world for that long if you are a bad player.
22/23 (28)
5
5
21/22 (26)
4
5
20/21 (25)
12
2
19/20 (20)
5
5
18/19 (30)
1
3
17/18 (21)
3
3
16/17 (20)
4
3
15/16 (26)
8
1
As you can see in the table above, the Nigerian striker even managed an eye-catching haul of 14 goal contributions in the division in the 2020/21 campaign, whilst being managed by the Celtic boss.
However, it is worth noting that he has only scored six goals in 52 matches in all competitions in the last two seasons, mainly playing in the Championship for Leicester and Middlesbrough, per Sofascore.
That run of form included zero goals and zero assists in nine appearances in LaLiga for Sevilla before they opted to terminate his contract earlier this week.
With this and the report that Celtic wanted two strikers on deadline day in mind, it makes sense that the Hoops are now being linked with another free agent forward.
Celtic in talks to sign English forward
According to The Herald, Celtic have made an approach to sign free agent centre-forward Patrick Bamford after his exit from Leeds United earlier this summer.
The former England international was not due to be out of contract at Elland Road, but a mutual agreement was reached after it had been made clear, by Daniel Farke, that he would not be part of their squad for the Premier League season.
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This means that Bamford is available on a free transfer and that the Hoops can snap him up at any point, although it is now too late to register him for the league phase of the Europa League.
Given that Celtic do not have to deal with a club or have to agree a transfer fee to sign the striker, the Premiership champions must now be in talks with the player after making an approach.
It is now down to the club and the player to see if there is a deal that could work for both parties to bring him in as the second striker that they wanted to add to the squad, after the signing of Iheanacho on Tuesday.
Patrick Bamford has shades of Gary Hooper
Bamford could arrive at Parkhead as a player who has shades of former Celtic marksman Gary Hooper, arriving at the club from England with a knack for scoring impressive goals.
The former Leeds marksman has only scored eight goals in the last two seasons in all competitions, but he was still able to showcase his ability to score world-class goals.
Bamford’s strike against Peterborough in the FA Cup last year was a sight to behold, and shows that he does have the quality to score stunning goals when playing regularly.
The 31-year-old striker did not start a single league game in the 2024/25 campaign, and only started 15 times in the 2023/24 season, which means that he did not get too many chances to add to his goal tally.
His ability to score brilliant goals whilst also being a poacher inside the box evokes shades of Hooper during his career, at Celtic and elsewhere, as the English forward was no stranger to a world-class finish.
Hooper, who scored a Bamford-esque volley during his time in England with Norwich City, scored 82 goals in 138 matches for Celtic in all competitions, per Transfermarkt.
He proved himself to be a prolific goalscorer who could find the back of the net consistently, usually from inside the box instead of from range, before his move to Norwich in 2013.
Bamford is at the other end of his career in comparison to Hooper when he first arrived at Parkhead from Scunthorpe United, but he could provide a similar threat at the top end of the pitch.
The left-footed striker, whose finishing quality and work rate were described as “rare” by Jurgen Klopp, has been capped by England and scored 24 goals at Premier League level in his career, which shows that he would arrive in Glasgow with a lot of pedigree.
Therefore, Bamford could be a shrewd free agent signing to play in the domestic competitions to save Iheanacho for the European matches, and he could give off shades of Hooper as the new English striker in town if the club are able to get a deal done for him.
