Celtic’s search for a striker has made it into a third week of January.
Despite near-enough everyone – not least Martin O’Neill – being well-aware of the need for a goalscorer in the winter market, nothing seems to be imminent.
Names such as Kyogo Furuhashi and Callum Wilson have been put to O’Neill in the press, but every time, it seems like we’re back to square one.
The interim Celtic boss has said that next weekend’s top-of-the-table clash with Hearts is a date he is targeting for having a new striker in the door.
But who will that striker be? One Scottish journo has a hunch.
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Scottish journo on Martin O’Neill’s striker search at Celtic
If we listed every striker to have been linked with Celtic in recent weeks, you would still be reading this article in March.
Naturally, some links are more credible than others.
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And for David Friel of the Scottish Sun, the one striker link he can see developing is Lorient striker Mohamed Bamba.
Friel explained: “Of all the ones that have been linked in the last week or so, he’s the one where I think: ‘I could see that happening’.
“I just look at him – he’s a guy who scored a lot of goals in Austria, got his move to France, scored a lot of goals initially, has had a really bad time with injury, lack of confidence…
“But I looked at his profile, and saw some clips of him… I think he’s the type of striker that Martin O’Neill would like.
“He can score goals, hold the ball up… he’s clearly lost his way – he was tipped as the next big thing in France at one stage, because he’d made such an impact.
“But he’s not going to play for Lorient. I don’t think he’s getting on too well with the manager there, so I think he will be available.
“I think, of all the ones recently, it wouldn’t surprise me if that’s one that progresses a bit.”
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Celtic striker target Mohamed Bamba
Another reason that this link is so believable is that Bamba’s agency company are owned by none other than Dudu Dahan.
Born and raised in the Ivory Coast, Bamba was approached to switch international allegiance to Guinea in 2023, but declined.
He completed a rapid rise from the Israeli second division to a €5 million move to Ligue 1, scoring eight goals in his first five months in France.
However, since picking up a long-term injury in 2024, he has been unable to break back into the Lorient side – hence why he is expected to move on this month.
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