Celtic are on the brink of signing Shane Duffy on a season long loan.
Neil Lennon has been looking to add a central defender since Jozo Simunovic was released at the end of last season with the Brighton man now set to join Celtic during the international break.
West Ham and West Brom have also been linked with Duffy but the well-connected Stephen McGowan of the Daily Mail is expecting Celtic to secure the move:
Celtic are poised to tie up a one-year loan deal for Republic of Ireland central defender Shane Duffy.
Speaking after Sunday’s 3-0 win over Motherwell, manager Neil Lennon promised new signings during the international break. Sportsmail first revealed Celtic’s interest in the no-nonsense defender on August 13.
And despite interest from West Ham and West Brom, talks with Brighton were last night edging towards a successful conclusion after the 28-year-old expressed the wish to move to Glasgow.
Despite Brighton seeking a £2million loan fee and a large chunk of his wages, a deal could be finalised by the middle of this week.
New £3.25million midfielder David Turnbulll was an unused substitute against his old club yesterday as Lennon admitted further signings are in the pipeline despite last week’s Champions League exit to Ferencvaros.
“‘I think so, yeah,” said the Celtic boss. “I don’t know how many but hopefully there will be one or two new faces coming in.”
In an ideal world Duffy would sign a permanent deal and would have signed in June but after the last week Celtic fans will be relieved to see the defender in a Celtic shirt.
The 28-year-old drifted out of the picture at Brighton last season as Graham Potter changed things over from the Chris Hughton days.
Duffy’s support of Celtic has never been in doubt, and has probably been the deciding factor in quitting the EPL for Scotland.
After the international break he’ll get to train with his new team-mates with a debut scheduled for September 12 away to Ross County.
