Celtic transfer options as niche German market assessed: Dutch left-back with a delicious delivery and more

The signings from the J-League, Poland, Russia, and Ireland show the variety of leagues he looks at. Matt O’Riley’s signature from MK Dons in League One is also proof that his scouting department takes a keen look at the lower divisions to find attractive options -  and the midfielder already looks a fantastic signing in that regard.

The 2. Bundesliga boasts some similarly undervalued players who would scale well in a bigger team.

We will look at three players from the German second division who would be good fits to join Postecoglou's Celtic revolution.

Thomas Ouwejan - Schalke 04

Nationality: The Netherlands

Age (DOB): 25 (September 30, 1996)

Position: Left-back

Preferred Foot: Left

Transfermarkt Value: £2.25 million

Thomas Ouwejan is a Dutch international who is on loan at Schalke from AZ Alkmaar. He spent the 2020/21 season on loan in Serie A with Udinese.

Ouwejan is a marauding left-back who loves pushing forward at every given opportunity. Whenever his team is in possession, he can be found moving higher up the pitch or already in the attacking half. As the heatmap indicates, he loves occupying the wide areas. Schalke have often played with a back three this season with Ouwejan being the left wing-back.

The Dutchman is a high volume crosser attempting over 4.6 per 90. Most importantly, the quality of his crosses are laudable. Ouwejan stays in the wide areas of the pitch as he is a dangerous asset in those areas because of his crossing. Not only are his balls in to the box sublime but the way he can switch between ground crosses and curved high crosses is interesting.

Another key thing to note is that he is the corner kick taker for Schalke. His deliveries from set-pieces are a menace and invite pressure on the opposition backline. He puts the ball into the most threatening zones in the penalty area which makes it harder to defend. Moreover, his out-swinging corners might be better than the inswingers.

Ouwejan doesn’t attempt a huge amount of through balls but he has the vision to find runners. The image below illustrates one such situation where a good ball in behind finds a runner who has a clear cut chance with the opposition keeper.

The penalty area entries numbers do look below average in comparison to his competition but his passing would be an asset in a team where the wingers and forwards have good movement. Defensively, he isn’t the ideal option. With his higher starting position up the pitch, he gets into tough situations when there is a turnover. Although he has a good recovery pace, his awareness occasionally lets him down.

As you can see from the numbers above, Ouwejan isn’t a very ‘defensively-involved’ full-back or wing-back. One of his biggest weaknesses is one-v-one defending where he gets beaten very often. The issue there is that he doesn’t get very tight and leaves a fair amount of space between him and his opponent. This makes it harder for him to sometimes block and defend a cross. His body orientation isn’t well set in one-v-ones as he leans in from distance and takes that extra second to recover and chase when his marker cuts inside.

Celtic need a left-back and it has to be a priority in the summer transfer window. Ouwejan’s ability on the ball and experience could be a good fit for Celtic and he would be a fairly good option.

Marco Friedl - Werder Bremen

Nationality: Austria

Age (DOB): 23 (March 16, 1998)

Position: Centre back

Height: 187 cms

Preferred Foot: Left

Transfermarkt Value: £3.15 million

Celtic could use a left-footed, left-sided centre back in the team and Werder Bremen’s Marco Friedl could be a potential option.

Friedl has played both centre-back and left-back for Werder Bremen in the last two seasons. Werder have played with a back three in most league games with Friedl playing on the left in the back three. The back three setup helps get the best out of his passing and other abilities but he’s capable of playing in a back four as well.

The Austrian centre-back is a highly progressive passer and loves moving the ball forward for his team. And it's not only are his passes forward-thinking, he is one of those centre-backs who can carry the ball up the pitch too. With Turkish defender Omer Toprak sitting deep as the last man, Friedl often moves forward and gets the ball into the attacking third of the pitch with his passing. He is capable of pulling in those passes in between the lines. His long passing is an additional value as he is capable of switching play with his long diagonals.

While Friedl is a highly valuable asset on the ball, he is also good at his main job which is defending. One of the positives in his game is that he always checks around his shoulder when defending potential crosses or attacks into the penalty area. He is always looking and trying to be aware of any potential threat behind him. He is not the fastest centre-backs around but he is quick to recover and has pace to cover up in most situations.

The 23-year-old is a front-footed defender and tries to actively win the ball back early. He marks his opponent tightly and uses his strength to brush players off and win possession back for his team. He is not careless and casual in duels, rarely giving away cheap fouls.

While his passing is an asset, he does tend to take risks more than required although that would be very much in line with the philosophy of the Celtic manager. Also, he tends to push higher up the pitch to win the ball back at times and ends up leaving large spaces behind him.

He is only 23 and given his peak years are only approaching, he would be a smart signing for Celtic.

Sarpreet Singh - Jahn Regensburg

Nationality: New Zealand

Age (DOB): 22 (February 22, 1999)

Position: Left winger

Preferred Foot: Left

Transfermarkt Value: £1.08 million

Jota is yet to decide on his future so Celtic could use a Plan B and Sarpreet Singh would be one to look out for. Singh is on loan at Regensburg from Bayern II and a permanent move away would aid his development.

He plays centrally as a number 10 for his country but he has also played on either sides of a 4-2-3-1 and behind the striker. The heatmap below is from this season where he played a lot of games on the left-wing.

Sarpreet is a winger who can play on the left and right. He has started every single league game for Regensburg this season with eight non-penalty goals and five assists. The rate in which he’s delivering might not be sustainable in the long term but he is a real threat with his passing which we will come to later.

He doesn’t get into the box very often as he looks to create shooting opportunities rather than being a shot taker.

The New Zealand international loves to move into the central areas of the pitch to receive and facilitate play. His passing is incisive as he attempts a lot of through ball and key passes whilst also ending up in the majority of his team’s shot sequences. He averages around 2.5 shot assists per 90 which is quite remarkable.

He constantly moves around the pitch, looking to get on the ball and influence play. He is above average when it comes to link-up play but has some tricks down his sleeve when he is taking on opposition players. He works hard, running constantly, closing down players out of possession. His pressing isn't very efficient although he does it regularly. This part of his game is something that could be coached.

One of Sarpreet’s weaknesses is that he is very one-footed which can be a disadvantage when he plays on the right. Most of his touches and passing is with his preferred left-foot. 

The 22-year-old would need to work on his physicality and strength to excel at Celtic. At the moment, Sarpreet looks like a player who still needs some polishing on his weaknesses but is an undoubted talent.