Celtic News Round Up - 02/08/21 - 06/08/21


Celtic News Round Up - Week beginning Monday 2nd August 

Ange Postecoglou continued to strengthen his Celtic side this week with the additions of Joe Hart and James McCarthy. There’s still a number of positions that need addressed so let’s get into all of the news and rumours from the past five days. 


There was an immense boost for the club this week with the fact that full capacities are allowed back in stadiums from Monday the 9th of August. Celtic announced they will have full houses starting from the second leg Europa League qualifier against Jablonec. In the first leg in the Czech Republic on Wednesday, Celtic secured a 4-2 victory. Liel Abada, Kyogo Furuhashi, James Forrest and Ryan Christie were all on the score sheet. It was a huge step in the right direction for Ange Postecoglou as he secured his first competitive win as Celtic manager. Should the Bhoys avoid catastrophe in the second leg they will face AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League play off. A defeat against Jablonec would mean a Europa Conference League play off against either Tobol Kostanay of Kazakhstan or MSK Zilina of Slovakia. 


James McCarthy and Joe Hart both joined Celtic this week on four and three year deals respectively as some much needed experience was added to the squad. Joe Hart joined for a reported £1 million and McCarthy as a free agent. In terms of departures, Olivier Ntcham was released from Celtic on Monday. The Frenchman joined Celtic for £4.5 million in 2017 and gave the fans some memorable moments including a winner in the Stadio Olimpico. In hindsight, Ntcham’s departure was to make way for the arrival of James McCarthy. There were two other players that left Celtic this week. Jonathan Afolabi joined Ayr United on loan until the end of season as well as Ross Doohan who left for Micky Mellon’s Tranmere for the same period of time as Afolabi. In terms of rumoured departures, there were a few. The Odsonne Edouard to Brighton saga is one that has been going on for a number of weeks. This week, the latest update came from French journalist Ignazio Genuardi. He said Brighton are in talks with Celtic over a move for the Frenchman whose contract is up next summer. They hope to have a deal wrapped up by next week. Celtic were looking at M’Biaye Niang a number of weeks ago as a possible replacement for Edouard however the former AC Milan striker is close to joining Venezia on loan as of Sky Italia. Conor Hazard is a loan target for several Scottish and English clubs according to the Scottish Sun. The goalkeeper’s heroic actions in the 2020 Scottish Cup Final helped Celtic secure the quadruple treble. 


Before Celtic’s Europa League tie against Jablonec, there were questions over whether Midtjylland player, Juninho, was eligible to play for the Danish side after an eight match ban was given to the Brazilian in his homeland while playing for his former team although UEFA rubbished this fact by stating he was able to play against the Hoops. Despite the fact Celtic signed Carl Starfelt a number of weeks ago, the club is still on the hunt for more reinforcements in the heart of defence. Cameron Carter Vickers has been linked for a few weeks with the latest update coming from American journalist Larry Henry Jr who says Newcastle have leapfrogged Celtic in the pursuit of Carter-Vickers. He went on to state “Serie A side Torino also expressed interest, but it looks likely CCV will stay in England or head to Scotland”. You’ll remember how Liverpool swooped in ahead of Celtic in the chase to sign Ben Davies in January. Davies has struggled for game time while at Liverpool though and Dominic King of the Daily Mail said Celtic, Sheffield United and Bournemouth are all interested in the former Preston man. Neil Jones, a reporter for Goal, said the Blades are leading the race and Liverpool are unwilling to include a buy option in the loan deal. In contrast, the Daily Record say Davies wants to stay with Reds and that Celtic have Cameron Carter Vickers and Ko Itakura on their list of potential loan targets. If Celtic are to bring in another centre back this window, I wouldn’t bet against it being Liam Scales of Shamrock Rovers. The news was first revealed by Paul Nealon, the founder of Irish Fan TV, who said Scales is close to joining the Hoops. The Rovers’ manager revealed they’ve had bids from both Celtic and some Premier League sides. Celtic’s major shareholder, Dermot Desmond, has a 25% stake in the Irish side. 


Celtic fans have been used to transfer stories dragging on whole summers in recent years. Aurelio Buta’s move to the club looks like one that could do so. Scott Burns of the Daily Record said “Celtic have agreed a deal with Antwerp. Agreeing personal terms with the player has been the issue. He is not looking for bank-breaking money either”. Contrary to Burns beliefs, there hasn’t been a deal agreed yet for Buta to go to Celtic with Fabrizio Romano stating “Negotiations ongoing in the last hours between Celtic and Antwerp for Aurelio Buta”. Later in the week, Sky Sports said Celtic are preparing a £4.5 million bid for Buta however Royal Antwerp could value the 24 year old higher than this. A potential alternative to Buta is Argentinian right back Fabricio Bustos. Homme du Match have revealed Celtic are in pole position for the 25 year old. It is said his club, Independiente, want little more than €4 million for his services. 


Bright Osayi-Samuel has been continuously linked with both sides of the Old Firm. This week, Turkish outlet Fanatik say Fenerbache are looking for around €3 million for the Nigerian with Celtic and Rangers interested. He only joined the Turkish side in January. As part of Celtic’s rebuild this summer, it was widely presumed a director of football role would be introduced. No such thing has happened as of yet although manager Ange Postecoglou did reveals plans for this earlier in the week. He said that he is currently focused on transfers and recruitment and that there is plans for a director of football/sporting director although only after the summer transfer window. 


That’s all for my latest Celtic news round up. Thanks for reading and don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @Josh_Footblog. 

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