It was all there in the tweet.

"Aaron Mooy to disappoint a host of Championship clubs to secure a dream move to Celtic FC as a free agent," posted Daily Telegraph reporter Mike McGrath. "Talks have progressed for the Australia midfielder to join the squad of countryman Ange Postecoglou."

That's precisely what Mooy will do - join the squad. 

Now full disclaimer on this one: as any regular viewers of The Celtic Way morning briefing videos will know, I'm not convinced he’s the ideal recruit at this stage of his own career or at this stage of the squad’s development.

He’s not really the type of combative, athletic presence that is likely to make the difference at European level, nor does he seem to be a Tom Rogic replacement (that's obviously Matt O'Riley, by the way).

He has played central (31 per cent of his career minutes since 2015-16) or attacking midfield (38 per cent) more than he has defensive midfield (25 per cent) so that suggests it's unlikely he’s really a Callum McGregor competitor either - assuming, of course, that such a thing exists in 2022.

And yet. What that infers he can do is cover all three midfield spots to an adequate level. In terms of his output, he is generally good for creating a couple of shot assists per game, picks up almost four interceptions and enjoys a decent goal return (34 goals and 40 assists since 2015-16; a goal contribution every 3.1 matches).

'Postecoglou knows what he's getting' is also a valid mark in the positives column because it's true; he capped him 28 times for Australia after all.

Does all of that make for the best possible signing the club could have made in that area of the pitch at this stage in the summer? Probably not. 

But it's also worth remembering that Nir Bitton clocked over 2,000 minutes last season and is no longer at the club. Rogic ran up almost 3,000. That's a lot of game-time to replace.

Celtic Way:

O'Riley - and David Turnbull - probably cover the Rogic hole while Reo Hatate coming into the new campaign after a rest and with the benefit of a full pre-season will be a boon too. Besides that, you're looking for Yosuke Ideguchi to make the leap. Beyond him? It's whether any of the fringe players can do it too.

Framed in that way, the decision to add the known quantity and perceived reliability of Mooy starts to make a bit more sense despite the craving for another 'marquee' midfield signing.

And domestically, certainly, there have always been legitimate question marks over exactly where and how a combative midfielder would fit in anyway - unless he also possesses high technical quality too.

Celtic averaged 67.3 per cent possession in the league last year; they don't really need a 'spoiler' who can't also progress the ball when Livingston or Dundee camp deep in their own half.

It's different in Europe though. The Hoops averaged 55 per cent possession in the Europa League - still seeing more of the ball than their opponents but not quite in the same dominant fashion.

Can Mooy and McGregor operate as a double pivot in a 4-2-3-1 to help keep and progress the ball more effectively in continental competition? Maybe. Maybe not.

Truthfully, a lot of it comes down to expectations. If Mooy is signed as a rotation piece then the expectation of what he will have to bring to the table should be commensurate with that.

On a reported one-year deal with the option to extend, it's potentially risk-free (and decidedly not like the James McCarthy contract into the bargain).

It's not in any way the marquee central midfield signing many theorised about - but it could prove to be a pretty useful one in practice.

This piece is an extract from today’s Celtic Digest newsletter, which is emailed out at 4pm every weekday with a round-up of the day's top stories and exclusive analysis from The Celtic Way team. 

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