It has recently been reported that Celtic are interested in making another attacking signing. Football Scotland revealed that the Hoops have made contact with the representatives of Al-Ahly midfielder Mohamed Magdy – better known as Afsha.

The report states that the Hoops, were credited with an interest in the 26-year-old in the past, have made contact with the player’s representatives but that is as far as any interest has gone at the moment, and teams in England and Turkey are also keen on signing the player, in what would be a permanent deal.

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Whilst it is always good to be linked with players, and we know that Ange Postecoglou likes to sign attackers, Celtic’s interest in Afsha does seem to be puzzling.

The player is an attacking midfielder who can also play on the wing, who has scored 47-goals in his career, which is a more than decent return. But looking at the positions that Afsha plays in, Celtic already have a number of players in the squad that can already play in those positions.

The likes of Sead Haksabanovic, Matt O’Riley, Reo Hatate, David Turnbull and even Callum McGregor and Aaron Mooy have played in that attacking midfield role for the Hoops at times this season. 

The Hoops also have plenty of wingers to choose from as well, the likes of Jota, Liel Abada, James Forrest Daizen Maeda and Haksabanovic have all played on the wing for Celtic in the 2022/23 season.

Perhaps the reason that the Hoops are interested in Afsha is because the club will be selling at least one of the above mentioned players in either the January transfer window or in the summer. That is the only way that a move for the player would make any sense, as Celtic have so many attack-minded players in the squad as it is. 

If that is the case, it could be following the method which saw Alistair Johnston join the Hoops, which is to likely be a replacement for Josip Juranovic at some stage. 

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The object of football is to score goals and win games, so in theory it isn’t a bad idea of have a number of attacking players at a club. But as it stands, there really doesn’t seem to be a need for the Hoops to sign another attacker, not unless at least one or two players are set to leave Celtic sooner rather than later.

If that happens then the interest in Afsha makes sense, but at the moment it seems to be puzzling.