Celtic FC opinion: Signing Simpson on a free transfer would be a real coup
According to The Scottish Sun, former Leicester City star Danny Simpson is set to join Celtic on a trial next week, with reports claiming that Hoops manager Neil Lennon is keen to offer the 32-year-old a chance to earn a deal with the reigning Scottish champions.
The Scottish Sun understands that Lennon is keen to add some valuable experience to his options at the back ahead of the upcoming season and he believes Simpson can do a job for the Hoops next term.
Simpson is currently without a club after departing Leicester City upon the expiry of his contract earlier in the summer but it looks as if Celtic are prepared to offer him an escape route.
However, it remains to be seen whether the 32-year-old former Premier League winner is open to the prospect of flying north of the border to join the Scottish champions.
Simpson only played a bit-part role under Claude Puel and Brendan Rodgers in the Premier League this past season, as the veteran managed only 6 league appearances for the Foxes and largely played second-fiddle to Portuguese international Ricardo Pereira.
That, however, doesn’t matter much, given that he will go down as one of the cult heroes at the King Power Stadium for his heroics in Leicester City’s shock Premier League triumph in the 2015-16 season when Claudio Ranieri and his men upset the odds to clinch the domestic title.
Simpson managed a total of 133 appearances for the Foxes in all competitions over the course of 5 seasons and he will have plenty of fond memories to relive when he recalls his spell with the Foxes.
A youth graduate of Man United, Simpson only featured sporadically for his boyhood club and spent time on loan at Royal Antwerp, Sunderland, Ipswich Town, Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United before joining the latter permanently in 2010.
The right-back played a key role over the course of his three full seasons with the Magpies in the Premier League before switching boats to join QPR in the Championship.
Simpson guided QPR to a promotion-winning campaign in the second-tier and subsequently played for them in the Premier League before joining newly-promoted Leicester City in the summer of 2014, which eventually proved to be the most successful move of his career.
To put things into perspective, Danny Simpson might not fall within the bracket of a modern-day offensive-minded full-back, owing to his conventional old-school approach to defending, but few would dare to argue against the fact that he is still a very solid presence at the back.
The 32-year-old’s limitations further up the pitch might not suit the demands of playing in the Premier League any longer but a move north of the border to arguably the strongest team in the division should help him cope with his deficiencies.
Moreover, he has a wealth of experience of playing in the Premier League and Celtic should definitely relish the prospect of having a calm, composed and experienced head at the back next season.
Although Celtic have brought in the likes of Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo and Christopher Jullien this summer, the Hoops are currently in desperate need of a new right-back following the departure of Mikael Lustig and Cristian Gamboa.
Hence, it is not difficult to see why Simpson would be a real coup for the champions on a free transfer, given that he perfectly fits the bill at Parkhead.
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Conclusion
The Hoops still have a lot of voids to fill in their first-team before the next season gets underway and a deal for Danny Simpson would definitely solve plenty of worries for manager Neil Lennon, as Celtic look to make it nine-in-a-row over arch-rivals Rangers in the Scottish Premiership next term.