Celtic News Round Up - 09/08/21 - 13/08/21

Celtic News Round Up - Week beginning Monday 9th August

Celtic haven’t been relatively busy off the pitch this week in terms of official announcements although there have been some dazzling displays on it. Let’s begin talking about all the news that’s came out of Parkhead this week. 

The Hoops have got back to playing enticing, innovative, attacking football in the past week. The Bhoys won 6-0 against Dundee then defeated Jablonec 3-0 on Thursday evening, making it an aggregate victory of 7-2 over the Czech team. In reaction to the result manager Ange Postecoglou spoke about potential incomings and had this to say “We’re working awfully hard, I guarantee you. Not a moment goes past, off the field the whole club’s working hard to make sure we can do it”. 

I mentioned how it was a fairly quiet week off the park however Gordon Strachan rejoined the club; this will be his role as of the official Celtic website - “Gordon will spend his time looking at our activities within our Football Academy, our Women’s Team and newly established B Team, with a view to providing recommendations to Chief Executive Dom McKay on how we can develop these areas further, feeding into wider work ongoing across the Club”. Strachan’s return may not be as plain sailing as many believed in the first place, though. Because the 64 year old is technical director at Dundee and will remain so throughout his three month stint at Celtic, the SPFL Professional Game Board will look at whether the former Scotland manager’s roles at Glasgow and Tayside are a breach of dual interest rules, according to Stephen McGowan. It was later reported that Celtic are astonished by these allegations and are confident Strachan’s appointment complies with the rules. 

Nobody at Celtic would have expected Anthony Ralston’s form this season to be so tremendous as it is. The right back has been transformed into a different player since the arrival of Ange Postecoglou however it looks like the signing of an extra right back to strengthen the squad could be on the cards. After Sky Sports revealed Celtic are unwilling to meet Royal Antwerp’s £5 million valuation of Aurelio Buta, it looks like there are two main candidates to become Celtic’s next full back in Man City youngster Yan Couto and Croatian internationalist Josip Juranovic. Celtic’s interest in Juranovic was initially spoke about this week by Croatian journalist Izak Ante Sucic who said Celtic were one step away from securing the services of the 25 year old for around €3 million. This was backed up Lyall Thomas of Sky Sports who stated that Juranovic is keen to join Celtic. The right back plays his football with Legia Warszawa in Poland and a news outlet from the Eastern European nation, sportowefakty, said that a deal for Juranovic to join Celtic is 50/50 and that there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes. The conflicting reports regarding the move continued into Friday afternoon with Polish journalist Tomasz Wlodarczyk tweeting “I have full confirmation. Celtic yesterday decided that their priority is Yan Couto from Manchester City and they will try to bring him on loan. There is also a theme for SC Braga in his case. If it breaks out, they can go back to Juranovic”. Another journalist, Marko Jerlekovic, somewhat backed up Wlodarczyk by stating “Josip Juranović to Celtic FC is really unlikely to happen. It’s not off but clubs are in deadlock over negotiations and things should become clearer in the next few days. Legia are being strong on their valuation and Celtic is not ready to meet it”. In contrast, the man who initially broke the story, Izak Ante Sucic, said recently “Update in next 24 hours. Everything seems to be just fine”. Sucic’s promised ‘Update’ arrived on Friday evening. He effectively said a deal is not as close as was first envisaged; “Verbally Celtic FC board agreed on one price, but then their formal offer was a lot smaller then expected”. “Celtic is looking into some other 'more cheaper' options”, the Croatian added. There is a plethora of conflicting reports on this deal, so much so that I don’t know who to trust or believe. We’ll just have to wait and see how this saga plays out and whether or not Juranovic ends up in green and white come the end of the summer window. 

Yan Couto was the other name I mentioned when speaking of right backs. The Brazilian was at Celtic Park on Thursday night to take in the Bhoys’ 3-0 win over Jablonec according to several outlets. If Celtic are to bring in the 19 year old it seems it will be a loan deal. Sky Sports said Celtic hold hopes of bringing the Brazilian in. George Baldock has reportedly been of Celtic’s interest throughout the summer and the Daily Mail said Celtic had approached Sheffield United with the view to bringing Baldock in on loan although the Blades wouldn’t like to let the 28 year old leave temporarily. The complete opposite of Sheffield United’s wishes for George Baldock are Liverpool’s for Ben Davies. The Sheffield Star say Liverpool would prefer to sell Davies permanently rather than loan him out. 

It appears Celtic have eventually found a solution to the goalkeeping issue. Joe Hart made two stunning saves on Thursday evening which were each greeted with a huge roar from the Celtic Park crowd. The man he replaced between the sticks, Vasilis Barkas, has been linked with a move away since Hart’s arrival. The main person reporting on the story surrounding Barkas is Greek journalist Giannis Chorianopoulos who Tweeted “PAOK and a club from Italy are interested in Barkas. Barkas priority is not to come back in Greek Super League and play abroad. But... you never know. Celtic demand a loan fee plus an option to buy”. He added later in the week that there is no way the 26 year old will return to AEK Athens in his homeland.  

Odsonne Edouard netted for the first time in 21/22 when he fired home a spot kick against Dundee last Sunday. The Frenchman’s future remains uncertain and Il Tempo said the 23 year old is among a list of possible strikers for Jose Mourinho at Roma. Edouard’s contract expires at Celtic next summer. The Daily Mail said this week that the striker is willing to sit tight and leave Celtic for free at the end of the current campaign should he not get a desired move away before the window shuts. One player whose deal is up sooner than Edouard’s is Ryan Christie. Similar to Anthony Ralston, Christie has been lighting it up so far this season under Ange Postecoglou. The Sun report the Scottish international is open to the idea of staying at Celtic although he is yet to receive a concrete offer. The 26 year old has predominantly featured as a left winger so far this season during his renaissance however Celtic have been linked with a host of players who could potentially fill in on both flanks. Bright Osayi-Samuel was initially wanted by Celtic in January however the Nigerian signed for Fenerbache. It seems the Hoops have returned for the wide man this summer because it hasn’t quite worked out for him Turkey. Rivals Rangers are also in the chase through with the Gers having submitted a bid as of Turkish journalist Talha Arslan. 

We end the news round up with one potential incoming as well as an outgoing. Young Norwegian defender Leo Hjelde, who enjoyed a six month loan spell at Ross County last season, is close to joining Leeds United as per Norwegian journalist Stian Andre de Wahl. Celtic have agreed terms with the Premier League club as has Hjelde who will join up with their u23’s pending a medical. I promised a final rumoured arrival and I won’t disappoint. Thomas Henry is a French striker who plies his trade with OH Leuven in the Belgian top flight. The Sun first broke this story by stating Celtic are on the brink of winning the race for the £7 million striker. The Daily Mail later revealed Henry’s preferred destination is Glasgow.

The transfer rumours and reports are beginning to ramp up as we enter the final few weeks of the window. I’m positive that in next week’s news round up, we’ll have a new member of the Celtic first team. As always, thank you for reading. 

Follow me on Twitter @Josh_Footblog