Celtic have been thrown into an unlikely move for Aliou Traoré of Manchester United.
The 19-year-old is described as a ‘midfield powerhouse’ which is similar to how Eboue Kouassi was billed when he joined Celtic in January 2017.
If there is one area of the park that Neil Lennon is fully covered for it’s in midfield where he can call on Scott Brown, Callum McGregor, Ryan Christie, Tom Rogic and Oliver Ntcham competing for places. As back-up Lennon can call in Luca Connell, Ewan Henderson, Scott Robertson or Kerr McInroy.
Traore is apparently wanted by Benfica but France Football has credited a few other clubs including Celtic with an interest:
Manchester United midfielder Aliou Traoré could continue his career in Portugal. The former PSG likes Benfica Lisbon.
Promise of French football, Aliou Traoré has continued its progression in recent years in U18 and U23 under the colours of Manchester united. As a reminder, in July 2017, the relay medium left the DHR of Sarcelles for the prestigious Premier League club. PSG, which he had known between 2014 and 2016, had tried to bring him back but the player finally chose the Red Devils.
With the youth categories, he stood out rather positively (50 matches, 8 goals and 10 assists in all competitions). Called into the France U19 team on February 25 (Portugal-France, 3-1), the player received concrete requests from several foreign clubs. In Portugal, Benfica is clearly interested as are the two Glasgow teams (Celtic and Rangers). In Ligue 1, a few clubs are monitoring its situation closely.
The development of Moussa Dembele, Ntcham, Odsonne Edouard and success of Chris Jullien makes Celtic an attractive option for emerging French talent but Traore or any other midfielders are going to find competition for midfielders fierce at Celtic Park.
In January Celtic spent a reported £2m on Ismaila Soro who is still waiting to make his debut following his transfer from Bnei Yehuda of Israel.
