CELTIC will continue their search for an out-of-contract preferably tall frontman if a deal cannot be struck this week to sign former West Ham United player Carlton Cole.

Ronny Deila yesterday revealed that he felt his squad was a striker short and the physical Cole, who turned 32 next month, would be a good fit if both parties could come to an agreement. The Englishman will train with the first-team over the next few days.

Clubs can still sign players who do not have a current team outwith the transfer window and Cole is far from the only player Celtic could move for before the next window opens in the New Year.

However, Deila, whose side face Raith Rovers at Celtic Park in the League Cup this evening, is hopeful that something can be done with a player who ticks a lot of boxes for the Norwegian.

“He is watching us, and we are watching him, to see if it is a good match or not,” said Deila. "We are very happy to have him here. He’s a lovely guy and you can see he’s a good football player as well. We’ll see. He will at least be here this week and we will see what is going on after that.

“We have a department that has their eyes open all the time to see if there are players that can be interesting for us. If we find other players that are interesting it creates possibilities. We always look for things to improve the squad and the team and we’ve been looking for a target man for a long time. We haven’t found the right one yet and maybe Carlton can be that man.”

A problem Celtic have, even when it comes to players without a club, is that the average wage in the English Premier League is higher than the best paid player at the Scottish champions.

Cole would have no choice but accept a significant cut and while, as Deila pointed out, he would hardly get minimum wage in Glasgow, not every player south of the border would accept such wages, preferring to hold out for a higher salary.

Cole by all accounts is one of the good guys in football and if he did sign, and Deila revealed it would at least for 18 months, then it would not be the case of merely topping up his pension.

“He loves playing football,” said Deila. “He had a tough time at West Ham in the end having been so much involved. He is hungry to have fun with football again, score goals and be important for a team. He loves the way things have been here so far.

“The wage structure here is not a surprise to him – every agent knows about our structure and knows where the limits are. “It says a lot about him. He has earned his money and it’s not as if he would earn nothing here…the money is quite okay

“It shows that he wants to enjoy the last years of his career and enjoy the last few years of his football. He’s a lovely guy and at his age you start to think that the bank account doesn’t always make you happy.

“When you don’t have money you think it’s the only thing in the world. Then when you have it you realise that it doesn’t make you happy. Money gives you freedom – and he now has the freedom to come here and play for less money but to have more fun. That’s a big thing for a player.”

This would be an unusual move for Deila during his time at Celtic because of Cole's age.

“I’ve always brought in experience before, just maybe not at Celtic" said the manager. "The most important thing is not to use a lot of money in a transfer fee for players you don’t get money back for.

“When you rent players it is very good with short-term contracts and things like that, and you can get some experience into the squad. If we can add some extra experience into the squad it is positive.

“I think a lot of players get priced at a very high level because there is too much money in the business. And when it comes down to football it is often not major things that are the difference but small things.

“I think if you have an environment you can get the best out of people then we can get people who have a very good future or have a lot of potential to do a lot. I think we have been very good at that.

“To stretch people, get them better, get them on the right way in their career. This is a positive thing for us and that is the most important. Always before with what we get in we want different types of players. If they are talented we will get the best out of them. That’s the most important thing.”

Deila’s first trophy as Celtic manager was the League Cup so this is a competition he will always think highly of.

“The League Cup was good for us last season,” he said. “We won it without conceding a goal. It was our first trophy together and that was important. I hope we can do the same this year.”