O'Neill wants a top striker for Parkhead
Celtic manager Martin O’Neill has revealed he has not given up on signing a superstar striker to replace Henrik Larsson.
The Hoops have today been linked with Alan Shearer following the arrival at Newcastle of Holland international Patrick Kluivert.
The 33-year-old former England captain has indicated he does not want to scale down his career just yet and a switch to Parkhead would see him team up again with Chris Sutton to recreate the famed SAS partnership that fired Blackburn to the Premiership title in 1995.
But while there were no indications that such a bold move was anywhere near coming to fruition, O’Neill did make it clear that only a “special” player could replace Larsson, who has moved to Barcelona.
He told The Times: “Henrik was not only a terrific player for us at Celtic he was also a cult hero.
“Eventually someone will step in and score plenty of goals but replacing everything Henrik was about would be difficult.
“That is why we would want a special centre forward of his status.
“If that is not possible then an up-and-coming player with plenty of talent, drive and ambition.”
The latter description appears to fit Wolves’ Senegalese striker Henri Camara, who has refused to play for a club that is no longer in the Premiership.
According to the player’s agent, Willie McKay, Celtic have made an approach to borrow Camara for a year in return for a fee.
Whether Wolves would be prepared to accept such a deal for a player they rate at more than £5m (€7.5m) – and has been the subject of cash bids from Bolton - remains to be seen.
Camara netted just seven times last season, however, and O’Neill’s preference for an established striker is understandable.
Mark Viduka claimed Celtic had tried to lure him back to Parkhead, where he had a short and often controversial two-year spell that ended just before O’Neill took over.
O’Neill said of the man who has since joined Middlesbrough: “That was news to me. I don’t know where he got an offer from us from.”
