Why Louis Appere could be a good long-term acquisition for Celtic
According to claims from TEAMtalk, as cited by The Pink’Un, Celtic are among a host of clubs interested in securing the services Scottish starlet Louis Appere, who currently plies his trade with Dundee United in the Scottish Championship.
However, the reigning Scottish champions are expected to face stiff competition in their pursuit of the 20-year-old striker from Old Firm rivals Rangers, while several clubs south of the border are also monitoring the Dundee United prospect. (TEAMtalk h/t Pink’Un)
Premier League outfits Bournemouth and Norwich City, as well as EFL Championship promotion-hopefuls Leeds United, are also hot on trail of Appere, who is valued at around £2.5 million by the Tangerines. (TEAMtalk h/t Pink’Un)
Dundee United are currently flying high atop the standings in the Scottish Championship, 13 points clear of nearest promotion rivals Inverness, and Louis Appere have been amongst those to have caught the eye for Robbie Neilson’s side.
The 20-year-old has already scored 4 times while laying on a further 5 assists in 22 appearances for the Tangerines since making his league debut back in August, and his red-form in his breakthrough season has put a number of clubs higher up the football pyramid on red-alert.
Born in Perth, Scotland, Appere started his footballing education at Dunfermline Athletic and spent time as a trialist at Raith Rovers before joining Dundee’s academy back in the summer of 2016.
Having impressed across various age-group levels for the Tangerines, the 20-year-old was sent out on loan to non-league side Broughty Athletic for the second half of the previous campaign before being promoted to the first-team at Tannadice Park this term.
Lawrence Shankland, who has been on the radar of Celtic and Rangers for quite a while, has spearheaded Dundee’s surge for promotion in the second tier with a tally of 18 goals in 15 games (h/t Daily Record), but Louis Appere has also started to attract interest from the Old Firm duo as a result of his impressive debut season.
Meanwhile, Celtic have been sailing through smoothly on all fronts this term heading into the ever-busy festive schedule, with the Hoops having already bagged their first piece of silverware courtesy of a 1-0 victory over Rangers in the Betfred Cup final last Sunday.
Having enjoyed a good run in the group stages of the UEFA Europa League, Neil Lennon’s men are currently keeping their fingers crossed ahead of the knockout draw of fixtures in the last 32 of the competition while they are also a couple of points clear of the Gers atop the Scottish Premiership standings.
Suffice to say, things are presently looking bright for Celtic but the club’s links with Louis Appere is a clear indication of the fact that Neil Lennon is already making plans to strengthen his squad even further in the upcoming transfer window.
To put things into perspective, the Hoops are not really crying out for a new striker at the moment, with Odsonne Edouard continuing to fire on all cylinders, but Appere looks like a player in the right age bracket who seems to have the potential to push on for greater heights in his career.
With Vakoun Issouf Bayo’s move to Parkhead turning into somewhat of a disappointment due to the Ivorian’s struggles with recurrent injuries, Celtic are well within their rights to turn their focus elsewhere and Appere fits the bill as a good long-term acquisition.
Verdict
Leigh Griffiths continues to be a useful back-up to Edouard in the club’s ranks but given that the Scottish international hasn’t been in the thick of things in recent seasons due to miscellaneous reasons, Celtic might as well show the vision to plan for the long-term and rope in a promising starlet like Appere from the second tier.
Notwithstanding the obvious difference in quality between the Scottish Premiership and the Scottish Championship, as well as the pressure of living up to the expectations at a big club like Celtic, Appere still has plenty of time to make significant adjustments to his game to match the demands of playing in the top-flight in his homeland.
As evident from the acquisition of burgeoning young talents like Jonathan Afolabi, Luca Connell, Lee O’Connor and Jeremie Frimpong this past summer, Celtic have put a lot of emphasis on their youth recruitment drive and Appere could be yet another fantastic addition to the pool of exciting up and coming talents at Parkhead.
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All in all, a fee of £2.5 million looks a little daunting for a player who is yet to prove himself in the top-tier but Louis Appere could be well worth the outlay for Celtic, given that he seems to have a bright future ahead of him.
