Tony Mowbray travelled to France on Friday to run the rule over the man he is lining up to make his big January signing. The Celtic boss was accompanied by assistant manager Mark Venus and scout John Park to assess Tours striker Olivier Giroud as his side took on Angers in Ligue 2.
Celtic have been tracking Giroud for some time and the £3million-rated forward has become one of the hottest prospects in French football. The 6ft 3in striker scored 12 goals in 23 matches last season and Mowbray saw him score his 12th league goal in 15 games this term in the 2-0 win over Angers.
The Parkhead club may have competition for Giroud’s signature though, as Middlesbrough have emerged as rivals to snap up the young hitman. Tottenham Hotspur and Portsmouth were also said to have scouts at Friday’s match.
The Celtic manager is expected to be busy in the January transfer window and has already secured the signing of South Korean midfielder Ki Sung-Yong, who was named as Asian Young Player of the Year last week.
The Parkhead club have also taken Honduran defender Osman Chavez on trial and Mowbray confirmed that the player will continue to train with the club for another week as he weighs up a contract offer.
With the club’s form the subject of much debate and following the news that Shaun Maloney and Scott Brown face long spells out through injury, Mowbray is looking to overhaul the squad in January. The manager added Marc-Antoine Fortune, Landry N’Guemo and Danny Fox to the squad during the summer and brought in Zheng Zhi on a free transfer.
Celtic chairman John Reid told the club’s AGM that he would not sanction excessive spending though some transfer funds would be made available. It is expected that Mowbray will move on some of his existing players to allow him to bring in new faces.
Gary Caldwell, who is out of contract at the end of the season, has been linked with clubs in England and Germany. Midfield star Aiden McGeady has also been the subject of transfer speculation, with Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish said to be prepared to use some of the £40million transfer budget he has been handed to lure the Republic of Ireland international south.
