With two games played on the pre-season tour of Slovenia, the first competitive match of the season coming next midweek and Euro 2016 down to the last four nations the transfer market is moving up through the gears.
Brendan Rodgers bloated squad is an obvious area of interest with the main speculation today centering on Efe Ambrose on the move to Bayer Leverkusen.
For reasons unknown, and in his fifth season at the club, the defender has been unable to gain a work permit to join Celtic in Slovenia. With Jozo Simunovic and Dedryck Boyata both out injured and Charlie Mulgrew out of contract Rodgers could do with having as much experienced defenders as possible around to work with.
Should there be a £1.5m bid on the table for Ambrose it’s hard to think of Celtic being difficult to deal with.
For all his qualities there is always a but with 88 minutes of strong defending regularly undermined by a costly boo boo. As soon as one of the injured defenders resumes fitness look out for Efe’s taxi heading to Germany or Turkey.
Kris Commons on loan to Hibs
Someone is having an almighty giraffe with the goal-scoring midfielder sitting on a wage that would leave more than loose change left over after paying the wages of the Hibs first team and substitutes bench.
A heavy suggestion came out of Slovenia at the weekend that Commons may not be Rodgers’ type of player- just as surely you can bet that life in the Scottish Championship holds no appeal to the former Derby County man.
The Neil Lennon link is obvious but with Bolton unable to match the terms that Commons is on there’s no chance of a move along the M8 happening any time soon. Aidan Nesbitt to Hibs for a season makes much more sense.
You’ll never be far wrong linking an Irish internationalist to Celtic
and there are strong hints that Blackburn’s Shane Duffy is the current favourite.
An impressive Euro 2016 campaign for Martin O’Neill’s side has put the former Everton defender in the spotlight with Celtic currently light on defensive options.
A £2m fee would be required to take Duffy from Ewood Park with a number of English clubs keeping tabs on the situation, speculation that a move to Celtic is almost a done deal is wide of the mark.
It remains to be seen whether the Irish card and Rodgers can convince Duffy to move north of the border but after his displays in France he seems the solid reliable type of defender that is badly needed at Celtic.
In a similar vain Celtic are reportedly interested in Welsh hero Chris Gunter
who has a get out clause on his contract with Reading.
As they demonstrated with the signing of Moussa Dembele doing your homework on the contract front will pay dividends with Fulham picking up a token development fee from a Scottish club rather than a full price transfer fee from another English side.
Gunter has been outstanding for Chris Coleman’s heroes but it remains to be seen whether Celtic will wait a month rather than make a move for a defender that can go straight into Champions League qualifiers.
More than a rumour- PJ Crossan has joined Celtic from Dunfermline
with the 17-year-old moving straight into Tommy McIntyre’s Development squad.
Dunfermline will be due a development fee with the Pars chairman Ross McArthur saying: “I would like to wish PJ well in his future career at Celtic, which is naturally a fantastic opportunity for him. I would also like to thank Celtic for their assistance in this matter to ensure the matter could be resolved amicably.
“However, the only disappointing aspect is the wholly inaccurate reporting in recent days relating to the agreed compensation figure, which will remain confidential. This is at a time when our particular club continues to need the support of our wider community and fan base, and such misleading information is extremely unhelpful.”
will go to Dunfermline for a season long loan as part of the deal.