NEWS of injury scares for Jozo Simunovic and Mikael Lustig arrived during the international break, raising concerns once again about Brendan Rodgers' sparse defensive options at Celtic.
While neither player appears to have picked up a major problem, the Northern Irishman has already been stretched this season with the likes of Simunovic, Dedryck Boyata and Erik Sviatchenko all facing spells on the sidelines.
Boyata is now back and Sviatchenko is returning to fitness, but the Scottish champions could do worse than considering options in the free transfer market if another injury crisis rears its head.
Read more: Popped shoulder not enough to stop Celtic youngster Kristoffer Ajer
Here is a selection of some of the biggest names available at the moment – could any of them cut it at Parkhead?
Sebastien Bassong
The 31-year-old has bags of experience on his CV, but is still without a club despite spending the opening months of the season training with Birmingham City.
After starting his career in French football with Metz, Bassong has plied his trade in England ever since with Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and Norwich City as well as loan spells as Wolves and Watford.
A Cameroon international, Bassong represented his country at the 2010 World Cup and has made 177 Premier League appearances during his career. However, his time at Norwich was brought to an end in the summer when he was released after making just nine league outings.
Joleon Lescott
Another experienced Premier League defender, Lescott almost made the move to Scottish football last summer when he came close to joining Rangers before opting out due to family reasons.
Whether he would be willing to make the move north a year later is a question that Rodgers would need to address, particularly now that the 35-year-old has landed a cushy job on the Sky Sports pundit sofa.
Read more: Popped shoulder not enough to stop Celtic youngster Kristoffer Ajer
But with 26 England caps, two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and a League Cup on his honours list, the former Everton, Manchester City and West Bromwich Albion stopper remains one of the most decorated free agents on the market.
He has been training with non-league side AFC Telford to keep fit while hunting for a new challenge.
Marcin Wasilewski
No-nonsense Poland international Wasilewski played his part in football history when he helped Leicester City win one of the sport’s most surprising league titles two years ago.
Although he played second fiddle to Wes Morgan and Robert Huth throughout that campaign, the 37-year-old is an available option with top-flight and international experience.
The former Anderlecht man has racked up 60 caps for his country, representing them at two European Championships finals, but will be short of match fitness after making just seven appearances last season before being released in the summer.
Kelvin Wilson
A familiar face, Wilson spent two seasons at Parkhead between 2011 and 2013, winning two league titles and a Scottish Cup in the process.
He has been performing in the English Championship since then, spending three seasons at Nottingham Forest before an unsuccessful spell at Rotherham United last term. His deal at the club wasn’t extended following their relegation and at the age of 32 Wilson will feel he still has much to offer.
The former Celt has a worrying injury record and spent more time on the sidelines last season, but a reunion could be tempting for both sides with the defender looking to get his career back on track and the Hoops in need of reliable defensive cover.
Joel Ekstrand
A teammate of Wilson’s at Rotherham during the second half of last season, Ekstrand has also failed to pick up a new club since his release.
Although he has no experience of Scottish football, the two-time Sweden international has spent the last four years in England with Watford, Bristol City and the Millers and is still only 28 years old.
Another who has been plagued by injury problems, to his hamstring last season and previously to his knee and cruciate ligament while at Watford, he represents a riskier option if the Bhoys dip into the free transfer market.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel