Evan Ferguson to Celtic transfer gets seal of approval as £100m rated striker tipped to explode
Evan Ferguson to Celtic transfer gets seal of approval as £100m rated striker tipped to explode
Shay Given insists Celtic could strike gold by snapping up Irish prodigy Evan Ferguson.
Ferguson, 20, exploded onto the scene at Brighton in 2022 and attracted huge interest from European heavyweights.
Advertisement
But the rising star has since endured a difficult couple of seasons, including a torrid 33-game goalless streak that eventually ended last October.
READ MORE: Emerging Rangers transfer headlines as Cerny future takes fresh twist, Toffolo competition and Camara finds new home
READ MORE: Celtic warned they are repeating Rangers transfer mistakes as rivals set to reverse roles – Hotline
Once valued at over £100million, Ferguson has fallen out of favour at the Seagulls following a disappointing loan spell at Premier League rivals West Ham.
With Brendan Rodgers in the market for another striker this summer, there have been murmurs that Celts could offer Ferguson a platform to reignite his career at Parkhead. That would see him compete with fellow countryman Adam Idah for the nod up front.
Advertisement
And Republic of Ireland legend Given, 49, believes the youngster could find his shooting boots again in Scotland.
Evan Ferguson has fallen down the pecking order at Brighton and endured a tough loan stint at West Ham -Credit:Getty Images
Asked about the prospect of Ferguson moving to Glasgow, Given joked: 'Better not tell Adam that!
'Evan just needs to find a home, if I'm being honest. Be it here or somewhere else. He needs someone to say, 'You're my player.'
'He went to West Ham for Graham Potter and you thought that was the perfect fit because Graham had him at Brighton. But then he didn't play so much at West Ham either.
Stephen McManus, left and Shay Given, right, promote Celtic vs Newcastle United on July 19 -Credit:SNS Group
'Michail Antonio and someone else was injured, yet they played Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus - not Ferguson. What happens next for Evan?
Advertisement
'I just think he needs to go, be it a loan for a season or some club buys him, and you build the team around him. I think he's a top player, I really do.
'I did some Malaysian TV recently with Bobby Zamora and he goes into Brighton once a week and coaches the strikers. Bobby said Evan was the best finisher at the club.
'Maybe because he burst onto the scene that everyone's been expecting so much so soon. But again, with young players, you need to have a bit of time.
'I just feel he's ready now to burst onto the scene for a full season with somebody. For us, with Ireland, it would be great too.
"I don't know if the finances would be to buy him, but if you said for a loan for the season, it would be perfect. But I'm not the financial power at Celtic or Newcastle, so I don't know!'
Advertisement
Working as a TV pundit in Ireland, Given keeps a close eye on Celtic's Irish trio - Idah, Liam Scales, and Johnny Kenny. Despite netting 20 goals, £9.5m frontman Idah continues to divide the green-and-white faithful.
Adam Idah is highly-rated by Republic of Ireland coaching staff -Credit:Getty Images
However, Given - in Glasgow to promote next month's Newcastle's pre-season friendly at Celtic Park - rates the ex-Norwich City man highly.
The Magpies great said: 'First season as a regular starter, I think it's been a good campaign for him. But he'll want to improve on that and get more goals next season. I don't think 20's a bad return, if I'm being brutally honest.
'He'll also want to add to his international goals too. Liam Scales has come out of the team in recent weeks, I think. Adam and Scalesy are well regarded in the international set-up.
Advertisement
'Adam's competing with Ferguson and Troy Parrott and players like that. Ferguson, not that long ago, was being talked about as a £100m player, and Adam started on Friday night against Senegal.
'So, that's where he's regarded in the Irish set up, by the manager especially. He was the first choice on Friday night while Ferguson started against Luxembourg. Adam's very much competing for that number nine jersey.
'He's a good player, and with Brendan - who is a brilliant manager and coach - he's in the right environment. Celtic's a big club and I think Brendan will keep improving him as a player. I think he's in the perfect position.'
Rookie forward Kenny, 22, returned from a prolific loan stint at Shamrock Rovers in January but spent most of the campaign on the periphery.
Celtic's Irish contingent Johnny Kenny, left, Liam Scales, middle, and Adam Idah, right -Credit:SNS Group
He notched his first goal for the champions in the 5-1 rout at Pittodrie and also made a cameo in the Treble-busting Scottish Cup Final defeat at Hampden.
Advertisement
Given hopes he has a bright future in the game and added: 'He was on loan at Shamrock and did well. I know obviously with Dermot there's a connection with Celic and Shamrock. He's come back here and played a couple of games off the bench.
'You'd need to ask Brendan for his plans for Johnny for the season. Does he see him as part of the plans or him going back out on loan? Does Brendan think he's ready? I don't see enough of him to know for sure.
'But again, from an Ireland perspective, we'd really like to see more of him for Celtic. When you get a flavour of first team football, you just want more and more.
'Even at Shamrock Rovers, the League of Ireland's flying at the minute. Damien Duff has added a huge problem to the league as well.
'The stadiums are sold out now.
Advertisement
'When you go to play in front of crowds, it gives you such a lift. I remember for myself back in the day, I went to Swindon as a kid and I loved playing in front of decent crowds. It doesn't matter how big the crowd is, that edge is there.
'When you then go back to the reserves, it's not the same. It's a bit of a step back. So for Kenny, he'll want to play again, having had that taste of first-team football.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
32 minutes ago
- New York Times
How can Liverpool afford Florian Wirtz?
The signing of Florian Wirtz comprises a new club-record deal for Liverpool. Wirtz will join from Bayer Leverkusen on a five-year contract. In exchange, Liverpool have agreed to pay the German club £100million ($135.9m) in guaranteed fees, with a potential £16m due in add-ons. The deal, even without those add-ons, eclipses Liverpool's previous transfer record by a distance. That record is generally seen as having been in place since January 2018, when they parted with £75m to buy Virgil van Dijk from Southampton. Advertisement In fact, the Van Dijk fee may already have been topped prior to this agreement. Darwin Nunez was signed from Benfica in June 2022 for an initial £64m that could rise to £85m. To the end of last December, according to the Portuguese side's financial disclosures, Liverpool had paid a further €10m (around £8.5m) of a potential €25m in add-ons, so any more conditions being met in the last six months could mean Nunez's transfer fee went past Van Dijk's. Either way, Wirtz's signing tops both of them, and makes him one of only a dozen or so footballers in history to command a £100m-plus fee. How, then, can his new side afford him? Wirtz's club-record arrival comes at a time when Liverpool are enjoying record revenues. They cleared £600m for the first time in 2023-24, a year in which they had to make do with Europa League football and finishing third in the Premier League. Last season, with a return to the Champions League and a twentieth domestic title secured, alongside a full season of the extended Anfield Road End being open and continued commercial growth, Liverpool should have topped £700m in turnover, a feat only previously managed by Manchester City in England. A further record in 2025-26 looks likely. The Athletic estimates Liverpool earned £181.5m through winning the Premier League and, even if they don't retain the title in 2025-26, they will still benefit from an uptick in the league's overall income. A new TV rights cycle starts this season, with the Premier League expecting to earn £12.25bn over the next three years — a 17 per cent increase on the 2022-25 cycle. Liverpool's commercial growth is well-placed to continue. August will see them begin a new kit deal with Adidas. The agreement, while incentive-based, represents a significant potential increase on the club's already lucrative arrangement with Nike. The latter secured Liverpool a base payment of £30million a season, but garnered around double that in reality. Booming revenues are all well and good but of little use if your expenditure is through the roof. Liverpool lost £57.1million pre-tax in 2023-24, the worst financial result both of the Fenway Sports Group (FSG) era and in the club's history, so are costs are swallowing their income whole? Not really. That big loss a year ago was very much out of the ordinary for a club who, across FSG's near-15 years at the helm, have broken even. In fact they've most likely done better than that: as detailed in The Athletic's BookKeeper series, published in March, we expect Liverpool to have returned to profitability in 2024-25, and healthy profitability too. Even if the club's wage bill crept up to the £400m mark — not a guarantee by any stretch, but possible once league-winning bonuses were handed out — we project Liverpool could still have booked a £30m profit. Advertisement The club are big wage-payers, as evidenced by their 2023-24 wage bill only trailing Manchester City domestically. The Athletic understands Wirtz will earn around £200,000 per week at Anfield, before any bonuses which may accrue to him. From Liverpool's perspective, inclusive of employer-related costs on top of his basic salary, Wirtz will cost them at least £12m a year to employ. Liverpool have some world-class players and pay them accordingly, but they'll benefit from the departure of Trent Alexander-Arnold, who also cost them £12m a year in employment-related costs (again before bonuses). One of the reasons the signings of Van Dijk and goalkeeper Alisson are often pointed to as examples of Liverpool not skimping on fees is they were pretty much outliers; they did spend big on the pair, but their transfer spending has generally trailed domestic rivals. At the end of 2023-24 the cost of assembling Liverpool's squad, across transfer and agent fees, was £749.4m, the seventh most expensive squad in the world but well behind Chelsea (£1.4bn), Manchester City (£1.1bn), Manchester United (£943.9m) and Arsenal (£882.4m). Correspondingly, annual amortisation costs hitting the club's books were well below domestic peers; Liverpool's amortisation bill of £114.5m last year was over £20m behind Spurs and £75m less than Chelsea. After a quiet summer in 2024, amortisation won't have ticked up much, if at all. Assuming his signing completes on June 16, when the transfer window reopens, Wirtz's £100m fee, plus assumed agent fees on top of around 10 per cent, will add £20.9m to Liverpool's 2025-26 amortisation bill, with a further £21.8m per season following thereafter until 2029-30 (a small sliver, £1.8m, will fall into 2030-31 as a result of the club's 31 May accounting date). Alongside the recent signing of Jeremie Frimpong, they'll have added around £28m a season onto their amortisation costs, but they'll still trail all the rest of the 'Big Six' clubs, with the potential exception of Spurs. Advertisement No. We recently explained how Liverpool could have lost £75m last season without breaking any Premier League rules. Across wages and transfer fee amortisation, signing Wirtz will add an extra £34m or so in annual costs — but the club have the headroom to handle it. That's not to say that outgoings are not likely this summer. They aren't needed to satisfy Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) — the profitability of 2024-25 and growing revenues will ensure no issues there — but they will help balance both the squad and the books. FSG has long sought to run Liverpool sustainably and, while they can splurge this summer without fear of bankruptcy or rule-breaking, and lose a chunk of money in 2025-26 if they wish to, that doesn't mean they'll do it for the sake of it. A big money departure, likely Nunez, would be no surprise. Cash worries are different from PSR ones, but Liverpool have little concern there either. Access to funds is no problem. Even if FSG was reluctant to loan money in (something they've generally preferred to do for infrastructure spend rather than operational costs), the ownership refinanced a revolving credit facility in September last year, lifting its limit from £200m to £350m. At the end of May 2024, it had only drawn down £116m of the original £200m, so there's plenty to be dipped into if the need arises. Liverpool may not need to increase borrowings anyway. Operating cash flow was positive at £83.7m in 2023-24 even without Champions League revenue, while cash spent on infrastructure has reduced following the completion of the revamped Anfield Road End. As well, their relatively low spending on transfers — and keenness to pay more of deals up front if they can — means Liverpool owe far less than peers in outstanding fee instalments. At the end of May 2024, they owed a net £69.9m, an amount which is expected to have dropped even lower in the past year. The previous figure was already lower than seven other Premier League clubs at the time and nowhere near the £308.9m Manchester United owed at the end of March 2025. Signing Wirtz is a significant undertaking for Liverpool. Combining the transfer fee, assumed agent fees and five years of his basic salary puts the total cost to Liverpool of signing and employing him at an estimated £170.5m. With potential add-ons and bonuses that sum could feasibly reach £200m. All parties concerned will hope it does — it will mean Wirtz and Liverpool have enjoyed plenty of success together. Those are big sums, but then Liverpool are a wealthy club. FSG's ownership has not been to every fan's taste, but it is precisely because of its frugality that Liverpool are able to make these deals when opportunities arise.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Five things to look out for as Club World Cup kicks off
Despite concerns over ticket sales and player fatigue, FIFA's new expanded Club World Cup will throw up several intriguing storylines this summer in the United States. AFP Sport picks five things to look out for on the pitch as teams compete to conquer the world and claim their share of $1 billion in prize money. Advertisement Messi back in the spotlight Former Barcelona great Lionel Messi has spent the last two seasons at MLS side Inter Miami but the Club World Cup pits him against European opposition once again. The 37-year-old superstar still possesses supreme quality but there are question marks over whether he and former top level stars Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets can seriously compete against the cream of the crop. Inter Miami face Porto in their second group match in Atlanta, a team Messi has faced once before, beating them with Barca in the UEFA Super Cup back in 2011. Messi also featured against Porto in a friendly with Barca back in 2003, which was his first ever appearance for the club at 16 years old. Advertisement If he nets at the tournament, Messi would become the oldest ever Club World Cup goalscorer, while both he and Suarez trail the competition's all-time top scorer, Cristiano Ronaldo, by two goals. A new stage for Doue Paris Saint-Germain's Champions League final romp over Inter Milan was inspired by thrilling forward Desire Doue, who turned 20 earlier in June. His spectacular burst into the limelight over the past few months means he is one of the players to watch this summer at the Club World Cup. He struck twice in the final against Inter as well as setting up another goal and drew comparisons to Spanish starlet Lamine Yamal, who will not be playing this summer as Barcelona did not qualify. Advertisement PSG's opening clash against Atletico Madrid at the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles immediately gives Doue another stage to shine on as the world at large continues to discover his immense talent. Revamped City Pep Guardiola's Manchester City endured a poor season by their lofty standards and immediately took action in the special transfer window to bolster their squad for the Club World Cup. The Abu Dhabi-owned club have already splashed more than £100 million ($136 million) on Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Rayan Cherki. With holding midfielder Rodri also returning to fitness after injury, City are hoping they can step up their game significantly. Advertisement French 21-year-old attacking midfielder Cherki is an exciting talent looking to show his quality at the top level. "I really believe he can become a world-class player with our support and direction," said City's director of football Hugo Viana. South American threat While Europe's elite are at the end of a long, hard season, South American clubs are midway through their campaigns and will be energised. They have long revered the competition to a far greater degree than European sides, as it represents the chance to face the very best teams in the world. Fans who do not regularly follow South American football can look forward to discovering some of the most exciting emerging talents in the world. Advertisement River Plate's Argentine playmaker Franco Mastantuono will join Real Madrid after the tournament, while Chelsea-bound striker Estevao Willian is hoping to end his time at Brazilian side Palmeiras with a bang. Atletico hunger Atletico Madrid ended the season trophyless despite looking like potential contenders in Spain and Europe. Diego Simeone's side are proud of having reached the tournament ahead of La Liga rivals Barcelona and the coach has not hidden his desire to succeed this summer. "I hope we can advance in the Club World Cup and lead Atletico Madrid to a privileged position," said Simeone. Advertisement Atletico have not won a single trophy since lifting La Liga in 2021 and their last success outside of Spanish football came in 2018 with Europa League and UEFA Super Cup wins. Their elimination by Real Madrid in the Champions League after Julian Alvarez's controversial 'double-touch' penalty was disallowed sent them into a spiral, which they only managed to shake off in the final weeks of the season, after their chances of success had vanished. rbs/mw
Fox Sports
3 hours ago
- Fox Sports
Mauricio Pochettino Sets Bar for USA in 2026: 'Win The World Cup'
The 2026 World Cup is less than one year away and, as one of the co-hosts, the United States men's national team will face some big expectations. So, what would success look like for USMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino at next year's 48-team tournament held across Canada, Mexico, and the U.S., making it the largest edition in history? He believes this team can win it all. "I'm not selling nothing that cannot be possible," Pochettino told FOX Sports' Tom Rinaldi. "Anything is possible in football, in soccer." Pochettino has previously coached at notable European clubs like Tottenham Hotspur, Paris Saint-Germain, and Chelsea. He's led top international players like Harry Kane, Lionel Messi, and Kylian Mbappe. It was therefore a seismic move when U.S. Soccer hired him in 2023 to lead the men's team following a disappointing showing at the Copa América, also hosted in the United States. "I see this as an exciting challenge," Pochettino explained to Rinaldi about why he took this job. "It's an important opportunity to build together a legacy and make history." But it hasn't been easy for Pochettino since his arrival. Two losses in March to Panama and Canada. Two more last week ahead of the Gold Cup, which kicks off Saturday and will be the last competitive tournament before next year's big event. The Argentinian manager is trying to instill a culture into a squad that has often fallen short of expectations against top teams from around the world. "The problem here in the USA is that soccer is seen as a nice game to play," Pochettino said. "But in different countries, it's a game to compete, it's a fight … it's a sport war." Pochettino spoke with Rinaldi ahead of the USMNT's two most recent friendlies -- losses to Turkey and Switzerland. Pochettino's roster that heads into the Gold Cup is missing star players such as Christian Pulisic, who opted to miss the tournament following a long season at AC Milan. "We need to understand that soccer is a collective team, the USMNT is bigger than any name," Pochettino explained. Pulisic said earlier this week that he offered to play the two friendlies but was denied by the coaching staff. For Pochettino, he's keeping his focus on the roster he has this summer as the countdown to the World Cup truly gets underway. "I'm excited, I cannot wait," he said. "I hope tomorrow it would start." It will come soon enough, and the eyes of the U.S. – and the world – will be on him. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily! recommended Get more from FIFA Men's World Cup Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more in this topic
