RICHARD KONE: CELTIC’S NEXT MATT O’RILEY?
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- Jul 19
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 20
Celtic today completed the latest in a long line of signings from the J-League with Shin Yamada. However, another market where we’ve done quite well in recent times is the lower tiers of English football.
That’s why today’s latest Celtic striker rumor aroused my interest.
The third tier of English football definitely isn’t the standard by which we should measure Celtic’s recruitment needs for the likes of the UEFA Champions League.
However, the recruitment of Gary Hooper in the past, and more recently Matt O’Riley from this level of English football shows that there are gems to be had for those willing to dig deep enough.
Richard Kone Celtic Link May Have Some Weight to it
Now, we are still very much at the speculative rumor stage of this story. This may well be one that disappears as soon as it surfaced. However, multiple sources in England claim that Celtic are interested in Wycombe Wanderers’ Ivory Coast international Richard Kone.
Kone was the League One player of the year last season, and returned an impressive 21 goals from 52 games, which isn’t bad for a club as decidedly mediocre as Wycombe.
Although he has yet to feature at full international level for this country, the 22-year-old Ivorian boasts an impressive record for one so young.
The player has had a meteoric rise by most standards, having moved into the English amateur league system in 2019 after playing for the Ivory Coast at the Homeless World Cup. He subsequently moved to England and joined Athletic Newham in the Essex Senior League.
His return of 88 goals in 109 matches earned him a trial and subsequent professional contract at Wycombe at the end of 2023.
This move into the professional game also earned him a call up to the Under-23 squad of the full Ivory Coast National team.
At 6”1 he is the kind of big, imposing striker we know Brendan Rodgers likes. However, the stumbling block in this deal may be the somewhat unrealistic price tag Wycombe Wanderers have, allegedly placed on the player.
Personally, I think the 7 million pound fee quoted in the article from Football League World is greatly exaggerated. At least I hope it is, for the player's sake.
I wouldn't put this down to anything malicious on Wycombe's part. More likely, it7s just another manifestation of the ingrained arrogance that infests many of those covering the mediocrity of English football outside the EPL when looking to other, supposed lesser, Leagues.
There is no way Celtic, or indeed any club of our level would pay that much for a player whose entire professional output so far amounts to 18 months of decent form in League One.
For the “Championship Manager” game enthusiasts out there, there is also the noteworthy little stat that says Kone is entering the final year of his contract at Wycombe.
You don’t pay 7 million for a largely unproven raw talent from League One. But you certainly don’t pay anywhere near that for a player at that level in the final year of his contract.
This is one that excites me, but in all honesty that’s more because the fairy tale of a player going from the Homeless World Cup to playing in Europe for Celtic is the kind of rags to riches story that football used to be built on.
It’s maybe just nostalgia talking, but in this corrupt, money-grabbing game that is modern football, it would be nice to think there is still room for a player with a background like Richard Kone to rise up and become a star for Celtic.
Time will tell whether the Richard Kone Celtic rumor proves to have any truth to it, but I'd like to think there's a chance.
