Jose Cifuentes seems to be closing in on a move to Porto.
The midfielder impressed for Ecuador at the u-20 World Cup Finals at the end of last season prompting interest from Europe including Celtic and Manchester City.
Celtic. Look like missing out on Jose Cifuentes. Club and player about to accept offer from Porto. They want him on a plane ASAP to finalise. Not like Celtic didn’t have enough time to do this ????
— Alan Nixon (@reluctantnicko) August 27, 2019
After Celtic beat FK Sarajevo last month Neil Lennon’s was asked about interest in Cifuentes and told The Sun: “It’s a player who we know very little about but one that has come up on the radar so that’s all I can say on that one.”
In common with many players from South America Cifuentes has a complex ownership structure with claims that an agency would be due a large percentage of any transfer fee.
The 20-year-old has switched between América Quito and Universidad Catolica over the last couple of seasons and seems to be in the dark about his proposed move.
Speaking to Maid Futebol he said: “My future is complicated. I want to leave, but the club has already rejected two proposals and does not give me opening to transfer. The offers came from Manchester City and FC Porto.”
Celtic had a £3m bid for David Turnbull accepted by Motherwell in June but that deal fell through when the player failed a medical. Since then no midfielders have joined the hoops.
If Cifuentes is on his way to Porto it would appear to close the door on Olivier Ntcham joining the Portuguese side who have been linked with the Frenchman since last summer.
Cifuentes would require a work permit to join Celtic but after his displays for Ecudor at the World Cup Finals it’s believed that his application would be accepted by the SFA.