Celtic missed a trick by not signing right-back Peter Ankersen this summer
Back in June, The Scottish Sun reported during the summer transfer window that Celtic were interested in signing Danish international right-back Peter Ankersen as a replacement for Mikael Lustig, who left for Belgian club Gent.
However, the Hoops dropped their interest in the 28-year-old for some unknown reason and they eventually ended up signing Israeli defender Hatem Abd Elhamed, with Christopher Jullien, Greg Taylor and Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo also coming through the door as a part of the club’s defensive rebuild.
Having been hit hard by the departure of defensive mainstays Filip Benkovic, Lustig, Kieran Tierney and Dedryck Boyata, it was always going to be an uphill task for Neil Lennon to bring in so many replacements to plug the gaps.
In the end, though, the manager should be happy with the club’s efforts in the transfer window and the Hoops will be hoping for all their new recruits to make a big impact this season, not only in their domestic title surge but in the Europa League as well.
The fresh faces at the back have all played their roles to varying degrees of success thus far this term, whilst deadline day arrival Greg Taylor is expected to link up with the squad after the end of the international break.
Indeed, the Hoops should be extremely pleased with their efforts to get a deal over the line for Taylor at the eleventh hour, with the youngster expected to provide cover and competition for Bolingoli-Mbombo.
However, a deal that materialized elsewhere on deadline day involving one of their former targets, Peter Ankersen, might leave some of the fans at Parkhead totally perplexed.
The 28-year-old Danish star left Copenhagen to join Serie A outfit Genoa for a bargain fee of £1.8million, a sum that Celtic would have had no problems forking out in the summer, especially given that they spent a lot more to bring in Jullien and Bolingoli-Mbombo.
Ankersen, who has been capped on 28 occasions by Denmark at the senior international level, successfully plied his trade with Copenhagen in his homeland for the last four seasons, helping his club win the domestic title thrice during that period.
Prior to that, he also had successful spells with Rosenborg and RB Salzburg in Norway and Austrian respectively.
To that end, the Dane had the experience, quality, as well as the CV, to back it up and Celtic might feel that they missed a trick by not firming up their initial interest in the right-back.
Indeed, the 28-year-old’s bargain move to Genoa on deadline day is likely to rub salt on Celtic’s wounds, given that the Hoops failed to secure an out-and-out replacement for Lustig this summer.
Elhamed and Kristoffer Ajer have both looked comfortable at right-back till now but a lot will depend on how they cope with tougher opposition in the Europa League later on in the campaign.
Lennon has even been forced to use a back-three system with James Forrest at wing-back, which pretty much sums up the Hoops’ lack of depth in that area of the pitch.
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Hence, it is easy to see why Peter Ankersen would have been a massive coup for Celtic this summer for a multitude of reasons, although whether or not they will be left to regret missing out on him is something that only time will reveal.