Celtic News Round up - 28/06/21 - 02/07/21


Celtic news round up - Week beginning Monday 28th June

Celtic finally begun to up their game in the transfer market this week. Osaze Urhoghide was brought in from Sheffield Wednesday for around £200,000 in a similar deal to the one that saw Liam Shaw join the club. Urhoghide is a central defender who can also play at right back. The 21 year old signed a 4 year deal. 


The signing of Urhoghide may lessen Celtic’s interest in Mario Vuskovic, common sense would tell you. Corriere Granata reported on Monday that Celtic hoped to sign the Croatian by this weekend but needless to say, that didn’t materialise. It was also reported on Monday by the Daily Record that Celtic are reportedly resurrecting their interest in George Baldock. The Sheffield Star said Celtic are willing to spend between £5 and 8 million to land the Englishman however this is way short of Sheffield United’s valuation. There has been a fair bit of focus on Celtic’s loanees from last season and whether or not they will feature this campaign. On Wednesday, the Toulouse president said that they’re still waiting on Bayo to make a decision on his future but he did confirm the French side haven’t taken up the option to buy on the 24 year old. He went on to state they would’ve been able to afford Bayo had they gained promotion to Ligue 1. Maryan Shved was out on loan at Mechelen from Celtic in the 19/20 season and the manager of the Belgian side said Shved and fellow loanee Ferdy Druijf are eager to come back and play for Mechelen. Greek journalist Giannis Chorianopoulos has been reporting mainly on Olivier Ntcham’s reported move to AEK Athens. His latest update was that the Greek side will not be making an offer for Ntcham after finding out he is not a free agent. One player possibly leaving on loan for the 21/22 season could be Conor Hazard. Hazard was one of the heroes of the 2020 Scottish Cup final and it was revealed by the Daily Record that Dundee are interest in taking the Northern Irishman on loan. The 23 year old signed a contract extension which will see him stay at the club until at least the summer of 2023. Leigh Griffiths is another player who recently signed a new contract. The 30 year old signed a new one year deal. 


Back to the subject of potential incomings and Aaron Mooy is a player wanted at Celtic by Ange Postecoglou. According to 90Min, the Australian has told the Hoops to prioritise the signing of the 30 year old. Mooy currently plays for Shanghai Port in China and could cost up to £4 million. Valentin Rosier has been another player linked with a move to Celtic. Turkish outlet Sabah Spor say the Frenchman will sign for Besiktas permanently. Celtic apparently ended their interest because Rosier wants guaranteed Champions League football. On Friday, Stephen McGowan of the Daily Mail reported Kevin Nisbet is being considered by Celtic as a possible transfer target. It is said Hibs are holding out for a fee of over £4 million for the 24 year old striker who came off the bench in all of Scotland’s Euro 2020 matches. Ko Itakura is another player who is reportedly of Celtic’s interest, the Daily Record revealed on Monday. Itakura is a central defender who plays for Man City but the Japanese was on loan at Groningen in the Netherlands for the last 18 months. One piece of transfer news we were kept unaware of was Celtic’s interest in young Egyptian full back Karim Fouad. He signed for Al Ahly this week with the president of the club revealing they beat Celtic to the signing of Fouad due to his desire to stay in Africa. 


Mohamed Elyounoussi sadly confirmed his departure from Celtic on Instagram this week saying “It has been a pleasure and honour to wear the iconic green and white shirt”. Elyounoussi was arguably one of Celtic’s best players last season, so was fellow Norwegian Kristoffer Ajer. Kicker reported on Tuesday that Celtic want up to £13 million for the 23 year old. Another player heavily linked with an exit from Celtic this summer is Odsonne Edouard. Leicester City have been one of the teams linked but they signed Zambian striker Patson Daka from RB Salzburg this week. Sticking to the Red Bull group and it was reported by The Scottish Sun on Tuesday that the Celtic sports science chief Jack Nayler has left for RB Leipzig. Our final bit of news this week is that there has been a proposal put to the SPFL to extend the league system to 48 teams. The 6 new members would be Celtic and Rangers B teams along with 2 teams each from the Highland and Lowland leagues. 


Celtic fans finally got a new signing this week and hopefully in the coming days there will be more to follow as the rebuild well and truly takes shape. 

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