Celtic Shorts

“Ajax Amsterdam has reportedly expressed interest in the Malian midfielder and would like to bring him to the Netherlands.

“In Turkey, İstanbul Başakşehir FK is also interested in his profile. In Scotland, Celtic Glasgow is also closely following the player’s situation.

“After several seasons in the Premier League, Bissouma could therefore take on a new challenge in Europe. The coming hours could shed more light on his future destination.”

The 29 year old, who won the Europa League with Spurs under former Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou, has made over 200 appearances in the EPL with the North London club, and Brighton and Hove Albion whom he joined in 2018 before winning a £30 million move to Spurs in 2022.

Before arriving in England, Bissouma made his name in France with Lille, and has won 50 caps a for Mali, for whom he featured in the 2016 African cup of nations final, in which the Malians reached the final only to lose out to Senegal.

Bissouma has made his name as a dominant physical ball playing midfielder who likes to play in front of the defence, a quality that Celtic are desperately crying out for.

With a move for top target Gvidas Gineitis now looking unlikely due to the reported fee, a move for free agent Bissouma could well be a possibility, although his salary expectations could prove to be a stumbling block.

Linking Celtic among multiple other clubs is of course a well worn path for reporters during the transfer window, so while it’s worth noting the link there will need to be more than this before we can regard it as a serious Celtic interest.

Just an Ordinary Bhoy

HAVE YOUR SAY – Join the Celtic conversation in our comments section below…

NEW BOOK LAUNCH FROM CELTIC STAR BOOKS…Celtic in the Fifties in two volumes, available to pre-order now…

Add Spurs to the growing list of clubs interested in signing Arne Engels…

Celtic midfielder Arne Engels is a man in hot demand as teams throughout Europe, including the likes of AC Milan, Napoli and Lazio in Italy, as well as Borussia Dortmund in Germany.

The most notably interest in Arne is from English clubs such as Nottingham Forest, Fulham and Sunderland, along with Championship side West Ham United, who are all keen on the Belgian Internationalist.

You can now add another English Premier League club to that list, as according to Teamtalk, Tottenham Hotspur are among the clubs showing interest as they consider replacements for exit-bound Lucas Bergvall.

Crystal Palace also remain interested despite their failure to reach an agreement with Celtic in earlier talks. The Eagles are understood to still be monitoring developments closely and remain in contact with Engels and Celtic.

Now Spurs have seemingly entered the race as they look to the 22 year old as a potential replacement for Bergvall, who is pushing for an exit after the £185million arrivals of Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes.

But whilst they are credited with an interest in Celtic’s record signing, the North London club’s interest hasn’t gone any further at this stage.

It’s been reported that despite a £25 million price tag placed on the Belgian, that Celtic will be willing to accept a lower fee just shorter than that amount to conclude a deal.

Engels is in the last 18 months of his Celtic deal, and has expressed his desire for a move to the Celtic board and, following the conclusion of the World Cup, work on securing his exit is expected to intensify rapidly.

This had been proved by his recent change of representatives after he moved from the Wasserman agency to DWMA in a bid to get a move done this summer.

Sources have claimed that any move will happen over the next few weeks, due to the players desire to move, and the club hoping to sell to fund new incomings.

Just an Ordinary Bhoy

HAVE YOUR SAY – Join the Celtic conversation in our comments section below…

Alfie Devine has seemingly dismissed speculation over a potential move to Celtic after sealing a permanent switch to Preston North End from Tottenham Hotspur.

The England youth international spent last season on loan at Deepdale and has now completed his long-awaited return after weeks of uncertainty surrounding his future.

Devine had been repeatedly linked with Celtic in recent months, with the delay in finalising his transfer prompting suggestions the Scottish champions could make a move.

Instead, the 21-year-old has ended the speculation by committing his future to Preston and hinting that reports surrounding his next destination had missed the mark.

After completing the deal, Devine took to Instagram to celebrate his return, writing: “Delighted to be back here permanently! Can’t wait to get started again and see all you fans at Deepdale.

“Don’t believe everything you read…”

The midfielder also made it clear that rejoining Preston had been his preferred outcome throughout the summer.

Speaking to the club’s media channels, he said: “From the end of last season going into the summer, it was always a priority in terms of where I wanted to be.

“It took its time, but I’m delighted it’s gone through. From the first minute I came here until my last minute of last season, I absolutely loved it.

“The fans, staff, players, everyone around the place made me feel so welcome.”

HAVE YOUR SAY – Join the Celtic conversation in our comments section below…

Alfie Devine looks set to remain at Preston North End on a permanent basis after the Championship side agreed a deal with Tottenham Hotspur for the midfielder.

Preston had initially allowed the deadline to trigger their option to buy the 21-year-old to pass, raising hopes among rival clubs, including Celtic, that they could make a move for the England youth international.

The Scottish champions had been strongly linked with Devine, but any prospect of a switch to Glasgow now appears to have ended.

According to Alasdair Gold of the Daily Mirror, the midfielder underwent a medical with Preston on Tuesday ahead of completing his permanent transfer.

Devine impressed during his loan spell at Deepdale last season, attracting interest from several clubs, but Preston have ultimately won the race for his signature.

Celtic’s admiration for the former Tottenham youngster has been well documented, with the club’s interest first coming to light when Mark Fotheringham and Martin O’Neill were spotted watching Preston’s Championship meeting with QPR earlier this year.

HAVE YOUR SAY – Join the Celtic conversation in our comments section below…

Celtic have reportedly intensified talks with Tottenham Hotspur over Alfie Devine…

The midfielder’s name hit the headlines before the end of last season, when it wad claimed that Martin O’Neill and Mark Fotheringham had been in attendance at a Championship encounter to watch the Preston North End loanee at that time.

The Lilywhites had taken the Spurs star on a short-term deal to England’s second division last term, where Devine flourished by all accounts, who bagged 8 goals and 6 assists down the road for the Deepdale club. Preston had thought to have held a £6 million option-to-buy included in the player’s deal which took him to Lancashire, but that expired on 1 July.

Now it appears that Celtic and Martin O’Neill’s recruitment team are keen to finish the job where Preston could not, and offer the 21-year-old star an opportunity to play Champions League football, all things going well. The Celtic Way has reported that talks are “accelerating” for the aforementioned Devine, who is surplus to requirements at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with a plethora of talent already there and fighting for a starting place under new manager, Roberto De Zerbi.

Celtic have not really started their summer rebuild yet, as only Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has officially signed on for another year. Make no mistake though, this is merely maintaining what was already there, and the Hoops must add to the collective, as opposed to cutting more faces from a squad that is lacking strength in depth.

Rumours are constant surrounding the likes of Arne Engels, Alistair Johnston, Daizen Maeda and Benjamin Nygren, with English Premier League sides thought to be courting all four men. Likewise, Reo Hatate has confirmed to the club that he wishes to leave Celtic Park and try something different, meaning more replacements need sourced again.

The club are said to be talking with Qarabag about the prospect of Camilo Duran becoming a Bhoys player, however despite that news breaking, nothing has surfaced that suggests it is by any means a done deal and that will terrifying supporters because of our previous history in transfer negotiations.

Duran’s agent is reported to be in Glasgow this weekend too, to thrash out personal terms, but as things stand, nothing is signed, sealed or indeed delivered.

The support needs to see signs of life now – and fast.

Paul Gillespie

HAVE YOUR SAY – Join the Celtic conversation in our comments section below…