Celtic went into deadline day on Monday needing to sign two centre-forwards to bolster Brendan Rodgers' squad for the rest of the 2025/26 campaign.

The club allowed Adam Idah to complete a permanent move to Swansea City for £6m before they had brought in any signings of their own, and ended the day without any new number nines.

Anthony Joseph now reports that the club are set for talks with free agent striker Kelechi Iheanacho, who was released by Sevilla on Monday night.

Why signing Kelechi Iheanacho is a big risk

The Nigeria international has experience in the Premier League with Manchester City and Leicester City, and has worked with Rodgers before, which is why he could make sense on paper as a short-term addition.

However, it is also an incredibly risky signing for the club to make when you consider his recent struggles on the pitch in England and in Spain.

Kelechi scored one goal in 24 league games across LaLiga and the Championship for Sevilla and Middlesbrough combined in the 2024/25 campaign, after a haul of six goals in 26 matches for Leicester in the previous season, per Sofascore.

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This means that Celtic would be bringing in a player who has not been at his best for quite some time and has not scored goals on a regular basis for several years.

Celtic may already have Idah's replacement at Parkhead

Whilst Kelechi could still come in as a calculated risk on a free transfer, Rodgers could also look within his own squad to find a replacement for Idah, and it is not Johnny Kenny.

Whilst the Ireland international has shown promise, with two goals in ten Scottish Premiership matches for the Hoops, he has yet to show that he can score goals week-in-week-out.

Celtic swooped to sign Callum Osmand on a permanent deal from Premier League side Fulham earlier this summer, and his form at youth level suggests that he has the potential to explode at Parkhead if given an opportunity by Rodgers.

As you can see in the table above, the Welsh youth international delivered an eye-catching return of 55 goal contributions in 73 games for Fulham at U18 and U21 level.

Osmand also netted a goal on his debut for Celtic B last month when he scored against Clyde in the Challenge Cup, which means that he has also made a fast start to life in Glasgow.

His statistics at youth level, for Fulham and now Celtic, show that he is a lethal frontman who is used to finding the back of the net on a regular basis, whilst also providing creativity in the number nine role.

He has not been given a chance to showcase his quality at first-team level, yet, and Rodgers should change that in the coming weeks now that the club have failed to bring in any high-quality replacements for Idah during the summer transfer window.

The 19-year-old star has done all that he can do at youth level - score goals at an immense rate - and it is now down to the manager to throw him in at the deep end, because his academy form suggests that he has the potential to be the prolific scorer that Kelechi and Kenny's recent goal returns suggest they will not be.