Celtic once wanted to sign £29m star in the making

Celtic went into the international break off the back of a 2-1 win over Ross County in Dingwall after coming from behind in the Scottish Premiership fixture.

They found themselves 1-0 down at the break after a penalty, thanks to a handball from Liam Scales, was converted by Ronan Vale for the hosts.

Brendan Rodgers‘ side rallied in the second half, though, and right-back Alistair Johnston was pivotal to their comeback, scoring the equaliser and assisting the winner from Nicolas Kuhn.

As you can see in the table above, the Canada international has enjoyed a stunning start to the 2024/25 campaign in the league for the Hoops so far, with his quality as a scorer and a creator of goals.

The 26-year-old star will now be hoping to maintain his impressive run of form for as long as possible to help his side to win plenty of trophies this season.

He has, as proven by his performances this term, been a fantastic signing at right-back for Celtic. There have been a fair few flops in that position for the Scottish giants, however, and one of them was Moritz Bauer.

Mortiz Bauer’s time with Celtic

In the summer of 2019, Neil Lennon swooped to sign the 26-year-old right-back on a season-long loan deal from Championship side Stoke City.

It was reported by The BBC that the Bhoys had an option to make the move permanent in the summer of 2020, although it was not revealed how much that would have cost them.

He had joined the Potters midway through the 2017/18 campaign and made 15 appearances in the Premier League, as they were relegated from the top-flight, before featuring in just eight matches in the second tier the following season.

Alarm bells may have been ringing when Bauer admitted in his first interview that he is “not the most talented” player, although he added that his “hard work” makes up for it.

The Austrian defender went on to play just 13 matches in all competitions for the Premiership giants during the 2019/20 campaign on loan at Parkhead, with nine of those appearances coming in the league.

Bauer was also an unused substitute on 16 occasions in all competitions that term, as Jeremie Frimpong emerged as the first-choice option at right-back.

Ultimately, Celtic opted against triggering their option to sign the Stoke loanee permanently, and he moved on from Glasgow at the end of that season, with just 13 games for the club in total.

Things could have been so different for the Hoops, though, if they had landed one of their alternative targets to Bauer in the summer of 2019 – Reece James.

Celtic’s interest in Reece James

Ahead of the 2019/20 campaign, a transfer document that detailed a number of the club’s targets for the summer transfer window in 2019 was leaked.

Versatile Chelsea defender Reece James was one of the names on the list, as the Scottish giants were keen on bringing him to Parkhead to bolster Lennon’s squad.

It did not specify whether they were keen on a loan or a permanent deal for the English youngster, who had just spent the season on loan with Wigan Athletic in the Championship.

As you can see in the table above, James, who was deployed at right-back and in central midfield, caught the eye with 12 ‘big chances’ created in 45 league appearances in the English second tier.

He had yet to make his senior bow for Chelsea and Celtic may have felt as though they had a chance of luring him to the Premiership to continue his development in Scotland, whether that was on loan for a year or on a long-term basis.

One that got away

The transfers that nearly happened but never did. This article is part of Football FanCast’s One That Got Away series.

Ultimately, however, the Blues appointed Frank Lampard as their new head coach and he decided to integrate James, alongside the likes of Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount, and Fikayo Tomori, into the first-team in the 2019/20 campaign, which meant that he was not available to the Hoops – or any other club – in 2019.

Reece James’ current market value

At the time of writing (11/10/2024), the 24-year-old star is valued at a whopping €35m (£29m) by Transfermarkt, having been worth €7m (£6m) in the summer of 2019 when Celtic were interested in signing him.

James, who was once hailed as a “brilliant” player who has “everything” by Ian Wright, went on to play 37 games for Chelsea in all competitions during the 2019/20 campaign, including six matches in the Champions League.

He followed that up with five assists in 47 outings in all competitions the following season, with ten games in the Champions League on the club’s way to winning the competition.

To date, James has produced 11 goals and 22 assists in 158 appearances for the Blues in his senior career at Stamford Bridge, since the Hoops were interested in signing him just over five years ago.

Unfortunately, though, the England international has also missed a staggering 119 competitive matches for club and country through injury in that time, as he has consistently struggled to remain fit and available for a significant length of time. In the last three full seasons, James has been absent for at least 20 games.

Despite his injury woes, the 24-year-old gem has been capped 16 times by England and his current market value being £29m still shows that he has enjoyed a terrific career since his loan at Wigan in the Championship.

James has established himself, when fit, as a top player and a valuable asset in the Premier League, and he still has plenty of years left ahead of him to get over his injury issues and truly flourish as a consistent and regular performer for Chelsea at the top level.

Despite his fitness problems, Celtic will surely still regret not signing the defender in the summer of 2019 and landing Bauer instead, as James has gone on to soar in value whilst the Stoke loanee struggled at Parkhead.

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