Snap him up! Celtic in bonkers £45m midfielder link

The transfer window is often described as football’s silly season as all sorts of far fetched stories are aired.

Sometimes a publisher will take things a few steps too far such as The Express who are suggesting that Celtic are about to join a £45m auction for Scott McTominay.

The midfielder does appear to be on his way out of Manchester United but a move to Newcastle United or West Ham is far more likely than lining up alongside Callum McGregor at club level.

Last summer Celtic pushed the boat out twice by signing Cameron Carter-Vickers and Jota for around £6.5m each. Multiplying that seven times would more than burn a hole in the spreadsheets being used by the Celtic Recruitment Team.

Rounding up activities at Manchester United The Express seems to be completely out of touch with Celtic’s transfer parameters, claiming:

According to The Times, West Ham are also interested in prising McTominay away from Manchester and presented a verbal offer for the 26-year-old. But their fee fell short of United’s £45m valuation. The Hammers could knock on the door once again in the coming weeks, as could Newcastle, as interest in the Scottish star heats up. And McTominay could even end up back in his homeland, with Celtic thought to be keen to snap him up as well.

The Celtic link is from The Express not The Times. Although McTominay is a Scotland internationalist he was born and brought up in Lancashire making the story even less credible.