Celtic get Evan Ferguson boost as Ireland ace told to follow in Larsson’s footsteps

Celtic’s dream transfer target Evan Ferguson has been told to “following in Henrik Larsson’s footsteps” and complete a move to the Glasgow giants.

Ferguson was heavily linked with a move to Parkhead in the January transfer window as a loan switch at Roma has proven another difficult step in the 21-year-old’s career.

Hit by injuries, the former Bohemians striker has struggled to regain his best level and has started only 13 matches in Italy. One of these was the Europa League clash against Celtic in Glasgow’s East End – a match in which he netted twice.

‘Celtic would be the perfect environment’

Ferguson has been told that he should close a difficult chapter of his career and move to Scotland permanently to become a club legend.

Ireland international midfielder Andy Townsend has advised the striker in comments relayed by the Glasgow Times: “Celtic would be a great move for Evan Ferguson.

“He needs to go somewhere where he can play every week and bag 30 goals if he can, and become talked about as a striker with those sorts of numbers.

“We still talk about Evan in terms of his potential and, hopefully, being fit, there’s a very talented boy in there, and I think Celtic would be the perfect environment.

“They’d love him up there. But he knows that if he goes there, he’s walking in the footsteps of Henrik Larsson and legends like that. He’d have to go into Celtic and convince them that he’s as good as those guys.

“I think he needs to come and be the main man at a big club. That’s what he needs to do: live with the pressure of a big club and those expectations.”

Ferguson would be a star at Celtic

Ferguson would indeed go to Celtic and become the main man immediately, according to data analytics firm SciSports, which rates every player with a SciSkill. This is based from hundreds of in-game data points.

The Ireland star, who has an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €21.9m, has a SciSkill score of 82.6, which is above any other player currently at Parkhead, including January arrival Tomas Cvancara, who sits on 68.4 as the Bhoys’ best pure centre-forward.

Celtic to jump through hoops to sign Ferguson

Celtic will have to perform some financial gymnastics to land Ferguson, though. His price tag of close to €22 million is well in excess of their previous most expensive signing, which was the €16m deal that saw Jota arrive at the club from Benfica in 2022.

The Hoops, however, may seek to negotiate a loan deal or could opt to sign Ferguson with the promise of giving Brighton a healthy chunk of any future profits.

Given the current struggles of the young striker to find his way at the top level, this may be an appealing move all round.

Related stories:

Jesse Lingard’s career takes another bizarre twist after Celtic snub

€8m star sacrifices World Cup dream to secure Celtic transfer

The FootballTransfers app

Check out FootballTransfers’ new app for all of football’s big storylines, transfer rumours and exclusive news in one convenient place directly on your mobile device.

The FootballTransfers app is available on Google Play and in the Apple App Store. Download here:

•Google Play

•App Store