Scottish Premiership club-by-club transfers guide: Who could be heading for Scotland in January?

Analysing and debating what to expect from Celtic in the January transfer window - plus a club-by-club guide of all Scottish Premiership clubs

January is upon us and with just two points separating Celtic and Rangers heading into the New Year, Sky Sports takes a look a what we can expect in the transfer market in the Scottish Premiership.

Speaking after Celtic's 2-1 defeat to Rangers, Sky Sports pundit Kris Commons suggested that Neil Lennon could dip into the transfer market in order to keep Rangers at a distance.

Commons told Sky Sports: "When this fixture was played 12 months ago, Steven Gerrard was then quick to go and get Ryan Kent. They lost the fixture and then straightaway they went and got Kent for £7m.

Kris Boyd and Kris Commons analyse Rangers' 2-1 win at Celtic, the race for the Premiership title, and what the Old Firm need in January

"It will be interesting to see if [major shareholder] Dermot Desmond, [chief executive] Peter Lawwell and Neil Lennon get together in Dubai and say, 'we need something to make an extra push'.

"'We need a striker worth £9m to partner Edouard' or to at least give him an opportunity to come out in certain games, and maybe another midfielder. I think if they recruit well in January, I think that would show intent and that forces the onus on Rangers to improve.

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"Both teams have improved every six months, so it'll be interesting to see what happens in January."

'Celtic must address the defence'

Highlights of the Old Firm derby between Celtic and Rangers

Analysis from former Rangers striker Kris Boyd...

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"I said that Leigh Griffiths had four weeks to save his Celtic career and I stand by that. January is going to be a big month for him in terms of fitness. [Vakoun Issouf] Bayo is not the answer.

"I still look at Celtic defensively and think you can get at them and they don't get tested a lot. If there's any area I feel Neil Lennon will strengthen, for me it will be in the defensive area.

"I don't feel it's worked out for Greg Taylor. He may in time turn into be a Celtic player, but Neil Lennon doesn't trust him for now.

"Boli Bolingoli is not the answer and Jonny Hayes has filled in there so there's an opportunity for somebody to go in there and nail that left-back place.

"Christopher Jullien and Kristoffer Ajer have had a lot of praise but I don't think they've been tested.

"I feel both defend erratically and if I'm Neil Lennon, these would be the areas that I would be looking to strengthen. Defensively, if I was a Celtic fan, I would be worried.

"Also, Scott Sinclair - where is he? He's the highest earner at the club, but where is he? He gets a European game and then he's on the bench.

"This might just be the wake-up call that Celtic need to spend a little bit of money on the defence as it's not at the level of where the rest of the team is at."

'Rangers have shown there is no gap anymore'

Boyd added: "A lot of people had been criticising Rangers for not winning the League Cup final but they took a lot of belief from that performance. A lot of Celtic's play was very tentative [on Sunday] and Rangers thoroughly deserved to leave with three points.

"When you go back through the years, Celtic have totally dominated this fixture. I think there's a different belief inside Ibrox since Steven Gerrard took over as manager.

"It was always going to be difficult, your first job as a manager, but he's surrounded himself by guys who know the game. Rangers have shown there is no gap anymore."

Club-by-club guide to January transfer window

Aberdeen

Aberdeen are looking for defensive and midfield back-up after Greg Leigh and Craig Bryson were each ruled out for two months, and Derek McInnes could be forced to cover for another injured player with Zak Vyner's season potentially over following a shoulder injury.

The Dons boss, linked with a move for St Johnstone winger Matty Kennedy, has told midfielder Stephen Gleeson he is free to find a new club and will hope to ward off any interest in Scotland defender Scott McKenna and top goalscorer Sam Cosgrove, although money could talk.

McInnes said: "We're already without Greg Leigh for two months, Craig Bryson goes in for his operation in the next couple of days.

"If that (surgery) is the case, we can do smart work in January and bring two or three additions in."

Celtic

Neil Lennon has a long list of targets and is focusing on attack where French striker Odsonne Edouard has carried the load with Leigh Griffiths and Vakoun Issouf Bayo both struggling for fitness. The Parkhead boss confirmed last week that Celtic were in talks to sign Slovenia international striker Andraz Sporar from Slovan Bratislava.

Also, Brazilian Fabricio Bruno is trying to secure his release from Cruzeiro to join the league leaders, while players like Lewis Morgan, Jack Hendry and Eboue Kouassi could go out on loan.

Lennon said: "We are looking to strengthen in a couple of areas.

"I have said that all along. We will endeavour to do that and look forward to an exciting second half of the season."

Hamilton

Brian Rice will look to add a couple of players to his Hamilton squad after finishing the year on a high with a 2-1 win over Lanarkshire rivals Motherwell at Fir Park.

Defender Sam Stubbs and midfielder Adrian Beck are on loan from Middlesbrough and Royale Union Saint-Gilloise respectively, while goalkeeper Luke Southwood's loan deal from Reading is up in January but is likely to be extended.

Rice will mostly rely on key players returning from injury.

He said: "I'll maybe look at bringing in one or two players. No more than that.

"It was a new squad in the summer and I'm still gelling them together after a lot of injuries.

"But what I'm hoping for is to get one or two key players back from injury. Blair Alston, for example, he's a big, big player for us but hasn't played for the last two months.

"Getting boys like Will Collar back recently was just like a new signing. Ciaran McKenna will be too once he's fit again."

Hearts

Former Hearts caretaker boss Austin MacPhee is now helping with recruitment at Tynecastle with the Gorgie club bottom of the table, five points behind Hamilton.

New boss Daniel Stendel has yet to win a game in five matches and there could be movement in and out.

Irish midfielder Glenn Whelan looks to be on his way out of the door and Stendel has been linked with Stoke defender Liam Lindsay, who worked with him at Barnsley.

However, he said: "At the moment, I can't say we will bring in this player or that player.

"It's very difficult to answer. I am looking forward to having a little more time to train with the players."

Hibernian

Jack Ross has had mixed fortunes since taking over as Hibs boss in November and will hope to rectify that during the transfer window.

Glenn Middleton has returned to Rangers following a loan spell.

Ross may try and add one or two to his squad but has to move players out for that to happen.

"I do think there's one or two areas we need to be stronger in and have more options but we also need to make room within our squad to do that," he said.

"We've got a bit of time in that we don't play again for a few weeks and that allows us to see what we can do but I've very much worked on the premise of making the best of what I've got."

Kilmarnock

Alex Dyer, appointed boss until the end of the season, will be in the market for extra midfield and striking options.

Osman Sow and Simeon Jackson have left the club, while Killie could exercise their option to recall Greg Kiltie from Dunfermline.

Dyer said: "I have been talking to the club about transfers and getting players in and doing our bit. But it's up until whenever they say. I just come in every day and do my job.

"We need another forward obviously and another midfield player to get us going again but we are not far from it.

"We don't need too many changes because the lads in the changing room are good lads and work hard. We just need a little bit of a boost."

Livingston

Gary Holt says he will look to add to his Livingston squad but only if he can find better than what he already has.

Full-back Aaron Taylor-Sinclair - who signed on a three-month deal back in November - is set to be rewarded with a new contract tying him to the Tony Macaroni Arena until the end of the season.

Holt said: "We're hopefully looking to do some business. The club have always been really good when we've approached them with ideas for bringing players in.

"It's always a difficult time to get players in and especially the right sorts who will advance the group and not just make up numbers. But we have been looking and getting some background on some guys.

"It comes down to who wants to come. I could identify Leo Messi as a target but he might not want to come.

"It's getting the right one in who will enhance the group. I will never bring someone in just for the sake of having another body."

Motherwell

Motherwell are closing in on a new striker to replace Devante Cole, who is returning to Wigan following a successful loan spell.

Getting David Turnbull and Charles Dunne fit again would be more important than any new signing, while manager Stephen Robinson will hope that Christian Ilic and Christy Manzinga will contribute more after injury-hit starts to their Fir Park careers.

Robinson said: "I can't imagine there will be too much. If something pops up that will make us better. Christmas is a difficult window, there's not loads available. I am not going to bring loads in for the sake of doing it.

"We do need a number nine and our options are quite limited but we feel we are quite far down the road with one at the moment."

Rangers

Steven Gerrard's priority is to trim his squad back in January. Fringe men Greg Docherty, Jamie Murphy and Matt Polster could be allowed to leave, while Andy King's Leicester loan will be cut short.

Misfit winger Eros Grezda and flop striker Eduardo Herrera have been ordered to find new clubs as quickly as possible, while youngster Glenn Middleton is to be farmed out again after returning from his stint at Hibs early.

Gerrard said: "There will definitely be people leaving the football club. The squad is too big and we want to try to trim that ahead of the second half of the season.

"We're always on the lookout at Rangers because we're always striving to be the best. So you never say never.

"But I don't think there will be much change in the squad, there will be more going out than coming in."

Ross County

Ross County went into the campaign with a fairly settled squad bolstered by free transfers such as Joe Chalmers, Ross Laidlaw, Blair Spittal, Lee Erwin, Jack Ruddy and Richard Foster.

The Staggies are also enjoying the services of loan players Nathan Baxter (Chelsea), Simon Power (Norwich) and Ewan Henderson (Celtic).

Co-manager Stuart Kettlewell said: "There is nothing confirmed just now. We are looking at one or two things, you are always trying to strengthen your team.

"Like other teams, we will look to see if there is anything out there that will make us better. It's hard to say at this time."

St Johnstone

St Johnstone are looking for an experienced centre-back, albeit they look to be over the worst of their defensive problems.

Liam Gordon, Jason Kerr, Wallace Duffy and Madis Vihmann are all in their early 20s but in a resurgence of form, Saints have only conceded one goal in five matches after Gordon returned to fitness.

Aberdeen are reportedly interested in Saints winger Matty Kennedy.

Boss Tommy Wright said: "My targets won't change. There's people out there who I think can come in and improve the squad.

"Hopefully we can get some business done in January and hopefully that can help the squad and help us move up the table."

St Mirren

St Mirren remain short in the centre-back position after recent injuries to Kirk Broadfoot and Gary MacKenzie.

Consequently, boss Jim Goodwin wanted to extend Sean McLoughlin's loan deal from Hull but the club have confirmed that the defender will return to the Sky Bet Championship side.

Goodwin said: "We have got targets and a list of players that we are going to try to bring to the club.

"We have a couple of boys on loan who we will need confirmation of what's happening with them. There's no real panic because of the winter break. We have irons in fires and we know where we need to strengthen.

"If we can add one or two bits of quality then that's what we will do but it's not a window we will be doing a load of business in."

How to follow the January transfer window with Sky Sports

Sky Sports will bring you the very latest news from the January transfer market with the return of three shows.

Start your day with Good Morning Transfers at 9am as our team of reporters bring you the latest news and insight. Transfer Talk then follows at midday delivering analysis of the biggest stories. Then join us at 7pm for the definitive round-up of the day's news with The Transfer Show.

Meanwhile, the Transfer Talk podcast will also be back at the turn of the year with more expert analysis from here and across the continent.

And as well as tuning into Sky Sports News, don't miss a thing with our dedicated Transfer Centre blog.

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