Si Ferry has questioned a late double transfer move from Celtic in the recently-concluded winter window.
Celtic's transfer activity in the winter transfer window has come under the microscope. The club's recruitment has been one of their weak points for years now, and that idea was underlined due to their poor performance this time around as well. The Hoops completed five signings, all of them on loan deals.
Of course, it remains to be seen how these players end up performing. If they do well and help Celtic turn around this league title race, then fans will have very little to complain about at the end of the season. But if they fail to do so, it will be viewed as the club losing their hold over the Premiership due to their lack of ambition and efficiency in the winter transfer window.
Martin O'Neill has produced results since replacing Wilfried Nancy, winning six of his eight games and not losing a single one. Even the two times his side have drawn, they were shown red cards while in a winning position.
Anyways, coming back to their transfer business. One late call that Celtic made in the winter was bringing in Benjamin Arthur on loan from Brentford and sending Stephen Welsh back to Motherwell until the end of the season.
It is a decision that has been questioned by Si Ferry. He said while talking on Open Goal (via 67 Hail Hail): "The one that baffled me, to be honest, was the Brentford defender (Benjamin Arthur) who’s played three games.
"You have Stephen Welsh, who you know, and he does well in this league. He has done well for you previously. You put him at Motherwell, and bring in someone who has played three games."
Arthur is 20 years old and has played only three senior games so far in his career. That is not an impressive statistic by any stretch of the imagination. It remains to be seen if he can prove the critics wrong during his stint at Celtic Park. It is worth mentioning that he has played for England at various youth international levels. So, he was highly regarded while coming through the ranks.
One could argue that Welsh was never going to be good enough to be a starter for Celtic. But at least he had proven himself as a Premiership-quality defender during his loan stint at Motherwell in the first half of the season. We do not know what we will be getting with Arthur.
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