Why Celtic Must Avoid Signing Real Zaragoza’s Borja Iglesias
Celtic are mulling over the possibility of making a summer move for Real Zaragoza striker Borja Iglesias, as per reports from the Daily Record.
On loan from Celta Vigo, the 25-year-old is having a fine campaign in the La Liga 2 with his temporary club which has alerted a number of British clubs, including Premier League side Swansea City and EFL Championship outfit Brentford.
Iglesias started out his footballing journey with Valencia’s academy, before having stints at La Roda and Villarreal. Having spent a year with the Villarreal C team, he departed to join Celta Vigo in the summer of 2013.
Iglesias has not been able to make the grade at Celta so far but has scored 75 goals in 146 games for their B team. Having only made one appearance for the first-team, he joined La Liga 2 outfit Real Zaragoza on loan in the summer and has been enjoying a brilliant season so far.
In 31 appearances across all competitions, the Spaniard has scored 16 goals and has chalked up 4 assists as well, helping his side to the 7th position in the table. Iglesias, this season, has scored 37.5% of Zaragoza’s 40 goals in the league and is currently the joint fourth-highest goalscorer in the Spanish second tier.
The 25-year-old may not be a well-known name but has shown enough potential throughout his youth career and is doing fine in the ongoing campaign. Strong physically, the Spaniard is good in the air and is quite an able finisher with decent ground speed as well. However, should Celtic move for the 25-year-old in the summer?
The Hoops have plenty of options in attack at the moment, with Moussa Dembele, Leigh Griffiths and Odsonne Edouard in the ranks. However, the picture might change come summer as Dembele has been linked with an exit, while Edouard could return to parent club Paris Saint-Germain if Celtic decide to not trigger the option of buying him permanently for £7million.
This would leave Brendan Rodgers’ side thinly equipped in attack for next season, which is where the interest in Iglesias comes into the picture. While the player is having a good campaign in the Spanish second division, one must also consider that he has failed to break into the Celta first-team despite having been on the fringes for almost four years.
While he may have scored 37.5% of Zaragoza’s goals this term in La Liga 2, the fact that Iglesias has an ordinary record of a goal every 169 minutes in the league is another factor that the Bhoys should be wary of. In comparison, Edouard averages a goal every 132 minutes this term, while Dembele stands at one strike per 144 minutes and Griffiths at one every 147 minutes.
Signing Iglesias in the summer wouldn’t mark an improvement on the current options at Rodgers’ disposal and surely, Celtic can find better options in the market should Dembele decide to move on or should they decide not to sign Edouard permanently. So, a move for the Spaniard at the end of the season is a no go for me.