Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Celtic Head coach Wilfried Nancy has already had to deal with an awful lot since leaving Columbus Crew to replace Brendan Rodgers in the dugout.
He lost his first four matches at the head of the Scottish Premiership giants, including the League Cup final at St Mirren, and finally secured their first victory against Aberdeen last weekend.
The French tactician also had to deal with the loss of two of his wingers, Sebastian Tounekti and Michel-Ange Balikwisha, due to the Africa Cup of Nations, which left him short of manpower in the wide areas.
Why Celtic need to sign a new winger in January
Heading into the January transfer window, the Scottish giants are expected to look to add another option in the wide areas to strengthen the squad.
While the system is now a 3-4-2-1 with no “natural” wingers, the full-backs play very high up the pitch, like wingers, and the two number tens behind the striker can also feel like wingers at times.
When Tounekti and Balikwisha return from international duty, Nancy will have plenty of options at her disposal, but it is the quality of those options that should be called into question.
|
25/26 Premiership |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Appearances |
11 |
7 |
|
Goals |
1 |
0 |
|
Minutes per goal |
667 |
N / A |
|
Key passes per game |
1.5 |
0.4 |
|
Big chances created |
1 |
1 |
|
Aids |
0 |
1 |
|
Statistics via Sofascore |
||
As you can see in the table above, the pair have combined for a goal and an assist in 18 Premiership appearances so far this season for the Hoops, which is a pretty dismal return in front of goal.
This is why the club should look to strengthen their wide options in the January transfer window by bringing in another striker who can offer more quality in the top of the pitch.
While Celtic are expected to look to sign a right-sided striker to improve Balikwisha, who has been used on the right and left flank, they already have an upgrade on Tounekti waiting at Parkhead.
The Celtic star who can be an upgrade on Sebastian Tounekti
In May this year, Hoops striker Jota suffered an ACL injury which is expected to keep him out of action for about nine monthsuntil February 2026, meaning he is yet to play a single minute in the 2025/26 campaign.
Speaking to supporters earlier this month, the Portuguese forward said he believed his recovery was “I’m going in the right direction“, which hopefully means he’s on track to return in February.
If Jota is back and available for selection in February, Nancy won’t have too long to wait to have a bright wide option available for selection, and who would be a big upgrade on Tounekti.
Celtic paid £8m to sign the wide man from Rennes in the January transfer window earlier this year, bringing him back to Parkhead for a second spell, but he was only able to play 11 Premiership games before his injury.
However, in those 11 appearances, the former Al-Ittihad striker showed the kind of form fans loved him for during his first stint, when he produced 25 goals and 23 assists in two seasons, according to Sofascore.
Jota scored four goals, created three “big chances” and registered two assists in seven league starts last season, according to Sofascore, meaning he scored three more goals and produced twice as many assists as Tounekti and Balikwisha have managed together so far this season.
|
24/25 Premiership |
Something by 90 |
Rank against wingers |
|---|---|---|
|
xG |
0.48 |
Top 8% |
|
Goals |
0.63 |
Top 6% |
|
Shots on target |
1.42 |
Top 6% |
|
shah |
0.37 |
Top 8% |
|
Aids |
0.32 |
Top 17% |
|
Opportunities created |
1.89 |
Top 25% |
As you can see in the table above, the Portuguese ace has been one of the division’s most productive full-backs in the 2024/25 campaign, ranking highly among his positional peers in a host of goalscoring and creativity metrics.
This season, Tounekti is averaging 0.14 goals and 0.30 xA per 90 for Celtic in the Premiership, according to FotMob, showing that he has not been as productive in front of goal as the currently injured star was.
Jota, whom expert Michael Stewart described as a “game changer” that “raises the bar”is a proven player who has been there and done it for Celtic for two spells, meaning he is more or less a safe option for Nancy, as long as his injury doesn’t have a major impact on his performance level.
Thus, the 26-year-old winger, who has not played a single minute this season due to injury, can return as a big upgrade over Tounekti and, as the winger Nancy is currently missing, when he returns to action in early 2026.
