celtics Head coach Wilfried Nancy’s difficult start in Glasgow continued with a disappointing 2-0 loss to Motherwell. scottish premier league Tuesday night.

The Hoops are three points behind Hearts in the title race and could be level on points with Rangers if they lose the Old Firm game on Saturday.

Celtic have lost five of seven games under the former Columbus Crew boss, including a League Cup final loss to St. Mirren, but the January transfer window opens on Thursday, giving him the opportunity to bring in his own players.

Right back Julian Araujo Reportedly expected to sign The Hoops are on loan from Premier League side Bournemouth and talks are ongoing between the two clubs, but he is not the only star linked with a move to Parkhead.

Prolific attacker linked with Celtic transfer interest

Nancy is yet to provide Celtic with a quality first-choice centre-forward as Johnny Kenny has missed four “great chances” without scoring under him, Daizen Maeda struggled against Motherwell and there is a striker keen to move to the club.

According to the Daily ChronicleThe Hoops boss hopes to bolster his squad with four new players in the January transfer window.

The report states that he hopes to sign a right-back, a right-winger, a centre-back and a center forward before the second half of the season, hoping that these additions will help improve the efficiency of his new 3-4-2-1 system.

It adds that Columbus Crew striker Diego Rossi is interested in reuniting with Nancy at Parkhead, although it stops short of making it clear Celtic are interested in signing him.

However, the Daily Record did reveal that the Scottish giants would need to make a “significant offer” to convince MLS to part ways with the versatile striker next month.

Why Celtic should sign Diego Rossi

According to reports, the Premier League champions should take advantage of Rossi’s interest in moving to the club and secure his services as he could be Nancy’s version of Keigo Furuhashi.

According to WhoScored, no Celtic forward has scored 15 or more goals in the Premier League since the Japan international scored 27 in the 2022/23 season, with Adam Idah scoring 13 last season.

The former Hoops star scored 34 goals in all competitions for the club that season, with the club still searching for a successor to the prolific Japanese star at number nine.

Rossi’s statistics for Columbus Crew during his time at Nancy suggest he is a player capable of becoming a prolific scorer and could eventually replace Kyogo at Parkhead if the club agree to sign him next month.

According to Sofascore, the Uruguay international scored 19 goals and provided five assists in 37 games for Team USA during the 2025 season, including 16 goals in Major League Soccer (MLS).

As you can see in the table above, Rossi’s goals-against average in those 16 league goals is just 13.96, showing that he is an efficient scorer who rarely misses a great opportunity to score.

Meanwhile, FotMob reports that Johnny Kenny has scored 4 goals with 6.02 xG in Celtic’s Premier League this season, while Daizen Maeda has scored 6 goals with 7.02 xG, indicating that Nancy does not currently have an efficient finisher in the final third.

Rossi’s performances in 2025 suggest he will provide the clinical presence that has been lacking since Kyogo left to join Rennes at the start of the year, but his performance for the MLS side in 2025 is no flash in the pan.

This 27-year-old star, Known as “selfless” The team built by former coach Bob Bradley is also attracting attention in the 2024 season, and he has performed well in 48 games in all competitions, scoring 21 goals with 13.99 xG, according to Sofascore.

These statistics show that Rossi has been outstanding and efficient in his past two full seasons with Columbus Crew, scoring a combined 40 goals in both seasons, which shows that he has the potential to become the reliable number nine that Celtic have been missing.

The versatile striker, who can play as a number nine or as one of the ten behind the striker, has also done so for Nancy at his current club, meaning he can start at Parkhead under a manager he already knows well.

Relevant

It’s not just Schmeichel: ‘Kilmarnock level’ mute not allowed to start for Celtic again

There was no way this Celtic defeat came after the 2-0 loss to Motherwell and it wasn’t Kasper Schmeichel who started again for the club.

Therefore, Celtic should be looking to seal a deal for the Columbus Crew center when the January transfer window opens.