Celtic target Jose Cifuentes reportedly has bid rejected from Man City

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Manchester City have reportedly had a Jose Cifuentes bid rejected by his club.

The Citizens were yesterday linked with a move for the Ecuadorian midfielder (Daily Record). Unfortunately for City, however, Universidad Catolica have reportedly rejected the offer, according to Ecuadorian sports journalist Andres Ponce.

There was no mention of the fee involved for his services. There was also no mention of how much City decided to throw Catolica’s way. But it looks as though City will have to cough up more whatever it was.

Celtic haven’t been reported to have made an offer for Cifuentes. But Neil Lennon has admitted in the past that he is on the club’s radar this summer (Daily Record).

It didn’t look too great when City were linked with a bid yesterday. But if a bid has indeed been rejected, it opens up the possibility of Celtic going in for him.

Cifuentes could be the answer to Lennon’s midfield issue

Lennon has been looking for a midfielder all summer. He’s so far failed to add to the Luca Connell addition in the engine room, however. Bringing Cifuentes in, if we do it, could put an end to Lennon’s search.

There’s no denying that Celtic could use another body in there. Scott Brown, Callum McGregor, and Olivier Ntcham could do with some more competition. Considering the possibility that Ntcham could also still leave this summer, it would be ideal to have more cover.

But if there’s one club we don’t want to get into a bidding war with, it’s Manchester City. Cifuentes’ valuation remains pretty secretive, with nobody reporting a possible fee for him. He likely won’t come cheap, but Celtic can still offer him more than City can at the moment.

Opportunities in the City squad won’t come easily if he decides to move there. A switch to Parkhead would perhaps be the best choice for him and his career this summer. Of course, Celtic still need to have an offer accepted for that to happen.

City being turned away will hopefully turn them off going for the Ecuador under-20 star. If not, however, we need to act fast to remain in the hunt for him.