Celtic’s lack of quality wing play has been a recurring theme this season. 

Despite the club bringing in three new wingers last summer, the loss of Jota last July and Liel Abada earlier this year, have led to a drop-off in threat from the wide areas. Honduran international Luis Palma has put up impressive numbers and provided some moments of quality since arriving from Aris for around £4m last August. The 23-year-old’s overall contribution to the team has been questioned though, often he has been guilty of slowing play down and taking the sting out of developing attacks. His decision-making has left a lot to be desired at times too.  

The club returned to the K-League market to pick up 21-year-old Yang Hyun-jun to add to the winger pool earlier last summer too. Highly rated in South Korea, the former Gangwon FC attacker has shown flashes of potential and had a run of impressive performances before the Asian Cup. However, he has also flattered to deceive in general and looks like he has too many areas of his game that need work if he is to stake a more consistent claim for regular minutes.  

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The third winger signed last summer was 22-year-old Australian international Marco Tilio. Arriving with an injury that hampered his early months in Scotland, he found opportunities very hard to come by and was loaned back to Melbourne City in January.  Celtic did bring in another winger in January, Nicolas Kuhn arriving from Rapid Vienna. The 24-year-old German, another who arrived with an injury issue admittedly, has been reliable enough once he settled, providing a decent threat on the right side of Rodgers’ attack in the second half of the season. 

On the left, Daizen Maeda has been a first pick and an important player for Rodgers in his first season back in the Celtic Park dugout. However, Maeda’s strengths are more off the ball. The fact Rodgers has turned to veteran James Forrest towards the end of the season, and Mikey Johnston earlier in the campaign, to provide a spark from the wide areas further underlines his lack of faith in some of the club’s more recent winger additions. The wide attacking positions therefore seem to be another area that Rodgers will look to strengthen in this summer’s transfer window. 

Here, as we have done for previous positions lately such as left-back, central defence, central midfield and striker, we identify three potential winger options that the club could target to bring up the quality in the wide areas again. As with the other positions we have looked at, the approach for this is data-led and within the club’s recent model, younger players who could develop further and potentially be sold on for profit down the line. 

For this position, the key profile traits that we are looking to identify will be high levels of chance creation, goal threat and the ability to contribute to build-up play. Some level of defensive contribution will be a consideration too while evidence of being able to play on either wing will also be a priority.

Sebastian Nanasi – Malmo  

The first potential option is 21-year-old Sebastian Nanasi, who has been the standout player for Malmo and was pivotal to their title win in last year’s Allsvenskan. Highly versatile, Nanasi has not only excelled on both flanks for the Swedish champions but also through the middle as the attacking midfielder in their favoured 4-2-3-1 over the last year. 

A highly technical operator, Nanasi’s possession section immediately stands out in the below percentile rank chart, which compares him to other wingers/central attacking midfielders in last year’s Allsvenskan. 

His volume possession metrics are amongst the highest in the league. That is unsurprising given Malmo averaged over 60 per cent of the ball last year, more than any other team in the league. What is most impressive is his accuracy percentages in these metrics with each one – overall passes, forward passes, short/medium passes, progressive passes and through passes – all ranking in the top quartile when compared to his positional peers.

Nanasi’s more creative possession metrics stand out too. His 0.52 key passes per 90 last year were above average for players in his positions in last year’s Allsvenskan while his 0.16 xA per 90 ranks in the 70th percentile.  He also provides a goal threat and averaged 0.33 goals per 90, from an xG of 0.25 per 90, in the Swedish top flight last year. Nanasi’s crossing is one area of his game that did not rank too favourably to his positional peers last year. However, his ball-carrying, successful dribbles percentage and progressive runs per 90, were above average and he got in the box plenty. 

Nanasi ticks the defensive contribution box as well. He won 60.81 per cent of his defensive duels last year and averaged 3.97 possession-adjusted (PAdj) interceptions per 90, both of which ranked comfortably above average compared to other players in his positions in 2023. 

With nine goal contributions (four goals/five assists) in the opening rounds of the 2024 Allsvenskan, Nanasi, who made his full international debut for Sweden last year, has attracted interest from clubs across Europe. He is valued at less than £5m and entering the last 18 months of his contract though so unlikely to move for a fee that would be out with Celtic’s budget. Beating off the competition for his signature may be the more difficult task. 

Oguz Aydin – Alanyaspor

Another potential option comes from a league the club have looked to in their search for a new number one. Trabzonspor’s Ugurcan Cakir is reportedly a top target to take over from Joe Hart this summer but the Turkish Super Lig could also provide an interesting winger target in the form of Oguz Aydin. Dutch-born Aydin, who has been capped by Turkey at U21 and U19 levels, has had a breakout season for Alanyaspor, operating on both the left and right flanks in their 4-2-3-1 formation. 

As his percentile rank shows, he certainly offers a goal threat with Aydin's league goals this season working out at 0.33 per 90 (from an xG per 90 of 0.28). This is probably down to Aydin getting into good quality goal-scoring positions, his 0.16 xG per shot ranks in the 89th percentile when compared to other wingers/central attacking midfielders in the Super Lig. 

His dribbling stands out in the attacking section of his chart too. Aydin has been one of the most efficient wingers in the league when it comes to his dribbling with his dribble success percentage of 66.42 per cent and 3.69 progressive runs per 90 ranking in the 97th and 96th percentile respectively.

Despite Alanyaspor only just averaging 52 per cent possession in the league this season, Aydin sees plenty of the ball with mid to high ranks for his volume possession metrics. His accuracy percentages in some of these may be a bit of a concern, particularly his short/medium passing accuracy (82.88 per cent), which comes in just below average for a winger/central attacking midfielder in Turkey’s top league. 

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His more creative possession metrics are amongst the most impressive in the league though. His through pass accuracy (55.56 per cent) ranks in the 92nd percentile while no other winger/central attacking midfielder has provided a higher number of key passes per 90 (1.45 per 90). The quality of chances seems impressive too with his xA (0.28 per 90) also ranking highly, in the 93rd percentile. Defensively, although he doesn’t post a huge number of PAdj interceptions (2.33 per 90), his defensive duel win percentage (61.03 per cent), like Nanasi, does stand out as well. 

Aydin would also be available for a reasonable enough fee (his current market value is just over £2m). However, like Nanasi, Celtic would need to fight off rival offers with Aydin attracting serious interest from Galatasaray. Ligue 1 side Nice have been most recently credited with an interest too. What does seem certain is that, with two years to run on his contract, Alanyaspor will cash in on their prized asset this summer. 

Marin Petkov – Levski Sofia 

If competition did take Nanasi and Aydin out of Celtic’s reach, our final pick, Marin Petkov, may offer a more budget-friendly option. 20-year-old Petkov has had a breakout season for Levski Sofia in the Bulgarian top flight. A product of their academy, Petkov has been a standout performer, despite his Levski Sofia’s disappointing fifth-place finish in the regular season this year.

Although the above graphic shows him mostly on the right, the versatile Petkov has clocked up over 800 minutes on the left side this season, even occasionally filling in at left-back.

Already with ten caps for the Bulgarian national side to his name, the left-footed Petkov has overperformed on his xG this season (0.17 per 90) to provide 0.32 goals per 90 for his side, ranking in the 89th percentile when compared to other wingers and central attacking midfielders in the Bulgarian. It would remain to be seen whether that goalscoring rate was sustainable longer term, especially as Petkov’s average xG per shot (0.08) comes in below average compared to his positional peers.

Much of the rest of Petkov’s attacking section comes in average to just below average versus other players in his position in the Bulgarian First League. Although his success dribble percentage (50 per cent) ranks in the 36th percentile too, his progressive runs per 90 (2.17 per 90) highlight a decent ability to progress the ball through carries.  

Petkov’s possession section is interesting. Levski Sofia have been one of the most ball-dominant sides in the Bulgarian top flight, averaging over 60 per cent of the ball in the league season. However, Petkov’s volume passing metrics all rank in the 57th percentile or below.  Despite not being on the ball as much as some others in his positions in the league, Petkov is highly effective when he is in possession. His overall passing, forward passing and short/medium passing accuracy percentages all rank above the 90th percentile mark while his progressive passing accuracy is in the 70th percentile. 

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It is a similar picture for Petkov’s more attacking passing metrics. Both his key passes per 90 and through pass per 90 rank in the 30th percentile but his accurate through passes percentage is in the top quarter and his xA (0.15 per 90) ranks in the 70th percentile. He more than ticks our defensive contribution box too. He has won an impressive 69.92 per cent of his defensive duels and posted 5.83 PAdj interceptions per 90, both of which are amongst the very highest of any player in his dataset. 

Valued at just over £1m and with only one year left on his deal, it seems Petkov will move on from Levski Sofia sooner rather than later, and probably for a fee that would be more than likely very achievable for Celtic.