For many reasons Celtic’s January transfer business was a strange affair.

The top brass at Celtic Park brought in Patryk Klimala for £3.5m while Ismaila Soro was also bought for £2m.

However, the duo have witnessed a real lack of action since walking through the doors. The latter hasn’t played a single minute while Klimala has played just 15 SPFL minutes.

It could have been a lot stranger had Peter Lawwell sanctioned a move for midfielder Victor Wanyama though.

The Kenyan made 61 Scottish Premiership appearances for the Hoops during his time in Glasgow but a decision to re-sign him would never have made much sense.

Initially linked with a loan switch for the 28-year-old, Spurs wanted any deal to include an option to buy Wanyama. That price tag touted was £9m – a considerable fee for someone who had played just four times all season.

The record fee Celtic have paid for a player stands at the same price when the Bhoys landed Odsonne Edouard from PSG. That tells you a lot about the type of investment Lawwell would have been sanctioning had a deal gone through.

Since then, Wanyama has moved to Thierry Henry’s Montreal Impact in MLS. His wages are alarming and detail exactly why Celtic were right to swerve a move for the midfield general.

According to New York-based journalist Sam Stejskal, he is set to earn $3m a year after completing his switch this month. Per week, that figure stands at $57k (£43.3k). That’s quite the salary, particularly for a side who are hardly financially well off despite their eight league titles in a row.

Wanyama’s potential return to Scotland would have been an unlikely narrative in their pursuit of nine in a row but on that wage, it would have been pointless. Callum McGregor has a spot nailed down in the midfield while Scott Brown is still a tough presence in the middle of the park. The Kenyan’s spot would have been far from guaranteed.

On top of that, forking out over £40k a week for someone with a rich history of lying on the treatment table would have been rather foolish. Per Transfermarkt, the defensive midfielder missed 232 days of action when at Tottenham. He was also absent from as many as 47 matches through injury alone – two of which were to knee problems.

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For someone on such a hefty weekly salary you ideally want them to be a reliable figure, not just on the pitch but also when it comes to their fitness.

Wanyama would have been a gamble, one Lawwell and his staff didn’t need to take. The fact they now sit 13 points clear of Rangers is evidence of that.

In other Hoops news, their £10m-rated man should now be sweating over his Celtic future…