Stubbsy: You must sign CCV
Alan Stubbs knows what it takes to play centre-half for Celtic – and he reckons Cameron Carter-Vickers has it in spades.
Stubbs won five major trophies during his time at Parkhead and has urged Ange Postecoglou to trigger the £ 6million buy- out clause in CarterVickers’ loan deal from Spurs ASAP.
The Scouser said: “In today’s market £ 6m seems good value. He’s at a good age and the potential is there for his stock to rise even higher.
“Celtic have been shrewd with their buying and sel l ing – they made fortunes moving on the likes of Victor Wanyama, Virgil van Dijk and Moussa Dembele – and Cameron’s re-sale value could rocket.
“There are also practical football reasons for making him a Celtic player.
“He has already shown he fits in at Parkhead and with the manager’s style of play it helps to have a centre-back who can bring the ball out of defence and pose problems for the opposition.
“He’s been a rock for Ange this year. He’s easily been Celtic’s best defender, someone who’s at least a 7/10 every week and often more than that.
“Put it this way – if they have to buy someone else who’s guaranteed to be as good, it will cost them a fair bit more than £ 6m!
“No disrespect to Ross County but Celtic should beat them on Sunday and they’d then need to lose three of their last four games NOT to win the title.
“A home win over Rangers in the next match would confirm it and with the Champions League cash effectively guaranteed then, next season could see Celtic make as much money as they’ve ever made in their history.
“So they should re-invest some of that in the big man. It’s a no-brainer.”
Stubbs would also take a punt on Portuguese winger Jota, another who has a £ 6m buy- out fee in his loan arrangement from Benfica.
He said: “There’s no doubt his form has dipped from the start of the season but he’s fallen from what was a very high standard.
“But that’s the problem with wingers. I’ve worked with a few in my time and it’s the most inconsistent position on the pitch, mainly because people expect you to be doing the unexpected all the time.
“They’re either a matchwinner or they’re not involved in the game but Jota’s still only 23 and most young players suffer from inconsistency.
“Opponents have also doubled up on him so he has to adapt to being a target if he’s going to become the player he wants to be.”