Celtic linked with three Manchester City transfer targets

Celtic have been linked with further interest in players notionally at Manchester City. 

With a vast pool of players out on loan and feeder clubs within the City Football Group the EPL champions are constantly shuffling players around clubs with little real prospect of seeing first team action at the Etihad. 

At the age of 25 Ko Itakura is at the older end of the spectrum, time served and first team ready after spells at Groningen and Schalke 04 over the last two seasons. 

As a Japanese internationalist he’ll be well aware of what Celtic can offer but any transfer to the hoops is likely to be dependent on how the move for Cameron Carter-Vickers works out. 

Looking at Celtic’s City options, the Daily Express reports: 

Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou is reportedly weighing up a double swoop for Manchester City defensive duo Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Ko Itakura, and he could be wise to delve deeper into what else the Sky Blues have to offer.  

The Hoops have a solid relationship with Pep Guardiola’s side, having orchestrated deals for the likes of Patrick Roberts, Dedryck Boyata, Jason Denayer and Olivier Ntcham over the past few years. Express Sport looks at four City starlets who are likely to be on Postecoglou’s radar. 

Taylor Harwood-Bellis 

The Celtic boss may have a hard time finding a younger centre-back who has a broader range of experience. Capped all the way up to England Under-21 level, Harwood-Bellis made his senior City debut as a teenager and spent the first half of last season on loan at Vincent Kompany’s Anderlecht.  

Six months learning from the former City captain will have done him no harm whatsoever, and the 20-year-old also has two Championship loan spells on his CV. Harwood-Bellis was a regular at Stoke City towards the back end of last campaign, and Sky Sports claim that the youngster is already being eyed up by Postecoglou as part of a defensive reshuffle. 

Josh Wilson-Esbrand 

Left-back is set to be a high priority for Celtic this summer, and Wilson-Esbrand could be the perfect candidate to step in. It would be something of a punt given that the 19-year-old only has one senior appearance for the Sky Blues, but it was a hugely impressive showing in their 6-1 demolition of Wycombe Wanderers in the Carabao Cup last September. 

The Express report only covers one additional ‘starlet’ as well as Harwood-Bellis and Ko Itakura. During the January transfer window Postecoglou showed a marked move away from the ‘starlets and projects’ market. 

With participation in the Lowland League in doubt next season there is a lot of uncertainty outside of the Celtic first team which is likely to rule out moves in that direction.