Hull City are having a hard time in the Premier League, time that’s only about to get harder with the news that their leading goalscorer Robert Snodgrass has turned down a new contract with his current one set to expire in the summer. While reports suggest the club have the option to extend it by a year, it rarely goes well for clubs that decide to hold players against their will.
With seven goals and two assists this season, the Scotsman with a sweet strike from range has clearly established himself as a cherry to be picked from the struggling relegation-battlers. Rumours are gathering pace that Celtic, who are on their way to yet another comfortable Scottish Premiership title, are interested in signing him up.
Celtic, however, didn’t do so well in the Champions League, finishing fourth in their group with a goal difference of -11. In spite of the focus on Snodgrass’ attacking prowess this season, his work rate off the ball is equally impressive & his sense of positioning would certainly have reduced the margin of their defeat to Barcelona where they conceded an embarrassing 7 goals.
It is no doubt then that Brendan Rodgers would be sniffing around the Tigers’ talisman this season, who also happens to have a 100% conversion rate on the 3 penalties he’s taken for them. Not only that, Snodgrass is assigned to set piece duties & corners as well, which would mean the fantasy premier league players would miss him as much as Hull would if Celtic were to swoop.
Snodgrass has made 21 appearances for the senior Scottish national team scoring 6 goals, proving his goalscoring credentials at all levels. With his history of injury & his fight to recover well documented, he is well admired by the fans and is only bound to be even more so in his home country.
Quality players are hard to come by in the winter transfer window, and at an estimated price tag of £4,000,000, Snodgrass offers not just quality but value as well. The fact that his seven goals match the league tally of each of Celtic’s strikers Moussa Dembele & Leigh Griffiths clearly shows how valuable an addition he would be to the runaway leaders of the Premiership to do better in European competition, where Celtic only managed 0.7 goals per game this season.
With more news to come, we’d definitely keep an eye on this move that makes a lot of sense for both Celtic & Snodgrass although Mike Phelan might do his best to prolong his top scorer’s stay until the end of the season so that Hull can prolong theirs in the Premier League.