Former Celtic star Charlie Nicholas has told the Daily Record that his former club are missing a trick by letting Scott McKenna join Nottingham Forest.
The Aberdeen star is set to check-in at the City Ground after a £3 million fee was agreed between the two clubs over the weekend.
McKenna could eventually cost Forest around £5 million with a series of add ons, whilst Aberdeen have included a 20% sell-on clause in the deal.
Nicholas is a former Sky Sports pundit and he believes the Hoops are slipping up by letting him head to Forest this summer.
He told the Daily Record: “At that sort of price range, Celtic should have moved for the Scotland international.
“They brought in Shane Duffy earlier this month but he’s only on loan and I don’t think he’s significantly better than McKenna.
“Of course, McKenna still has a fair way to go before we can say he’s good enough to compete with the best in Europe, but Celtic could have improved him.
Nicholas played 254 times for the Hoops during two different stints at the club.
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He also offered some thoughts on what Forest will get from McKenna and also how much he thinks he might be worth in the future.
He continued: “I don’t understand why Celtic didn’t consider trying to do a deal for the 23-year-old.
“He’s got a decent left foot which gives teams balance at centre-half. His physicality is strong and he can compete like Duffy.
“If they were keen on him two years ago when Aston Villa had a £7 million bid rejected then why not now when he can be bought for only £3 million.
“By the time he’s 27 or 28 he value would have doubled, if not trebled.”
NFN Verdict – McKenna has the potential to shine at Forest
These comments from Nicholas do make interesting reading for Forest fans.
The deal which sees the Reds land McKenna will perhaps ask some questions as to why Celtic haven’t revived their interest.
He is a big, strong player and the fact he can play on the left-hand side will, as Nicholas says, bring balance to the Forest back four.
If the Reds do get this deal over the line, they might just be getting themselves a bit of a coup.
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