Celtic have been linked with a move for Kiki Kouyate but it’s hard to believe that they’d be looking at a fee of € 5 million for a defender in the French Second Division.
With Jozo Simunovic released bringing in a new central defender is likely to be a priority for Neil Lennon with the French Connection well established at Celtic.
Every week Odsonne Edouard and Chris Jullien are in the headlines at Celtic with the development of Moussa Dembele putting Celtic in the spotlight.
Recruitment meetings between Neil Lennon and the Celtic board are well underway but there remains a number of variables about how next season will look.
France Football reports:
Revelation of Troyes this season, Boubakar “Kiki” Kouyaté arouses many lusts. The young central defender (23) has been in the sights of RC Lens for several weeks. But so far, negotiations have stalled, Estac banking on at least 4.5M € and the northern club is not able for the moment to offer more than 3M €. The game is all the less won for the Sang et Or as several foreign clubs have recently positioned themselves on the Malian international (4 selections). Thus, two Bundesliga clubs came to the information, Eintracht Frankfurt and Schalke 04.
A Celtic-Rangers duel?
If the player has, for his part, expressed a preference for England, this option seems compromised with regard to the obligation for a player from outside the Community to have played at least 75% of official international matches in order to obtain a work permit in Premier League, criterion which it does not fulfil. However, it is indeed the United Kingdom that manifests the latest offensive to date for the former player of Sporting CP. Thus, Steven Gerrard, the manager of the Rangers, indicated his interest for the native of Bamako, but it would seem that it is the great rival, Celtic, who is most urgent to recruit the player of Troyes under contract in the Dawn until 2022. Enough to hope for Estac as well as for the player’s representatives, reaching the famous € 5 million
Celtic will return to training on Thursday with a careful medical programme in place with players initially returning in groups of five.
Recent seasons have all started in the second week in July with Champions League qualifiers but Celtic are still waiting on word from UEFA on next season’s qualification process.