Opinion: Why Celtic shouldn’t go anywhere near Lyndon Dykes

Lyndon Dykes has been linked with a move to Celtic in the last few weeks, following an impressive season under Gary Holt at Livingston.

The Aussie-born star netted 13 goals and assisted 10 others in all competitions last season, which is a good tally for a player in his first season at the club.

His performances earned plaudits from Holt, saying that he deserves an Australia call-up, or even Scotland now that he is eligible.

He certainly caused Celtic some problems in their 2-0 defeat at the Tony Macaroni Arena back in October of last year. The 24-year-old tormented Christopher Jullien at the back and scored the second goal for Livy to pile on the misery for Neil Lennon’s men.

It’s not the only time he has been a handful for an opposition back-line. The striker was clinical against Ross County in December when he scored his first hat-trick for the club – his third being a bullet header – showcasing his ability to score with both his head and feet. He was also crucial in Livingston’s important 3-0 against Kilmarnock, where he scored and got an assist too.

He has shown that he has got an abundance of quality in his locker and he can turn up in the big games, but, for me, he is just not clinical and consistent enough to be in contention for a Celtic jersey just yet.

In the last 10 games of the season, before it was cut short, Dykes only managed to score one goal despite starting every single match. This should have been the time in the season where Livy fans would want to see their number nine banging in the goals, not finding himself in a drought.

Added to this, his disciplinary record was poor last season. He was yellow-carded nine times overall throughout the league campaign and he picked up a red card against Rangers too.

All of the cards he received came when Livingston were either drawing or behind, which indicates that he can easily get wound up when his team isn’t performing well.

The last thing Celtic need is to have an unreliable striker who can be a target for the opposition players. We have seen this become a problem for Rangers when they have been let down on multiple occasions by Alfredo Morelos.

Celtic need another player similar to Odsonne Edouard who they can rely on week-in-week-out because it is likely that whoever comes in will eventually be his replacement as rumours are growing about the Frenchman leaving the club

Dykes may still be at a young age of 24, but when you look at Edouard’s ability when he’s two years younger, there is just no comparison.

With Livingston holding out for a bid around of £2 million, I think that it is too much of a gamble to spend that much on the player. We need to focus on finding a striker who can actually add to the first-team with such an important season on the horizon.

Leigh Griffiths was finding good form before the league was cut short and Patryk Klimala looks a good prospect for The Hoops too. We don’t need to spend £2 million on a player who would be third or even fourth choice at the club.