Robbie Keane has emerged as a serious Celtic manager candidate over the last 24 hours.
And in his current squad at Ferencvaros is Franko Kovacevic, who may be a familiar name for Hoops fans.
Kovacevic was targeted by Celtic in the January window, after beginning the 2025-26 season in extraordinary form for NK Celje in Slovenia.
Eventually, however, it was Keane who got his hands on the 26-year-old – we checked in on how he’s got on so far.
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Celtic-linked Franko Kovacevic’s form under Robbie Keane at Ferencvaros
Since the £2.6 million move was completed on January 20th, Kovacevic has made nine appearances for the Hungarian giants.
He has scored four goals, all of which came in the Hungarian National Championship.
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His league scoring rate of a goal every 115 minutes is impressive, bettered only by Benjamin Nygren among Celtic players in the Scottish Premiership.
He has also played a part in Europe, playing both legs of Ferencvaros’ 3-2 aggregate win over Ludogorets in the Europa League.
On Thursday, Keane’s side took a 2-0 lead in the round of 16 against Braga, who won 2-0 at Celtic Park in the League Phase.
After his impressive start in Hungary, Kovacevic – a Croatian youth international – revealed to the national media that he is eligible for Hungary through his grandmother.
Hungary manager Marco Rossi then publicly stated that the federation was evaluating the feasibility of a national switch for the striker, who had never even been called up by Croatia’s senior squad.
Things took another twist, however. Kovacevic told Nemzeti that his “heart beats for Croatia”, and he has since been included as a reserve for the Croatian squad to face Colombia and Brazil in upcoming international friendlies.
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Robbie Keane a frontrunner for the Celtic job
With reports now naming Keane as the frontrunner for the Celtic job, the club’s search for a permanent manager now seems to be taking shape.
The report, in The Guardian, says that Martin O’Neill’s interim spell will end at the end of this season, with a major restructure of the club’s football operations in the offing.
Jens Berthel Askou and Roberto Martinez remain the two favourites for the role with the bookmakers, but no reports so far have said that either is keen on the role.
Craig Bellamy and Ange Postecoglou both remain outsiders, with the latter seemingly ruling himself out of the race.
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