Galatasaray reportedly eyeing up potential Celtic target Victor Wanyama

Add as preferred source on Google

Galatasaray are reportedly looking to swoop in for Tottenham Hotspur’s Victor Wanyama as a replacement for Steven N’Zonzi.

Turkish outlet Takvim have reported that talks between Galatasaray and Spurs have already begun. The managers of both clubs, Fatih Terim and Jose Mourinho, are apparently good friends.

Celtic were also credited with an interest in Wanyama, with Neil Lennon stating at the club’s AGM that he would “of course” like to bring in someone of his stature (Scottish Sun).

But Celtic do hold a key bargaining chip over the Turkish champions. Galatasary finished bottom of their Champions League group, meaning that they don’t have European football for the rest of the season.

It’s not as if Wanyama would have much of a title-race there this term either. They currently sit in seventh and 10 points off the pace at the top of the Turkish Super Lig.

Neil Lennon must be in no doubt that Wanyama is a necessity

Big Vic should really be one of Neil’s top priorities in January. Nothing stressed that more than in the Rangers game last week when our midfield was totally overpowered by our Ibrox foes. Having Wanyama in there would give us a bit of presence.

One of the key comments from Lenny at the AGM was that midfield also may not be an area Celtic look to explore options in because of how it was performing. But those comments came back in November. Since then, Celtic have had a ropey December with not many dominant performances from the engine room.

We still have Europa League football to take into account too. We’re going to need some improved performances if we’re to go much further in the competition. Having Wanyama there for depth would be golden.

And Parkhead would clearly be an attractive prospect for the Kenyan too. Lennon, remember, was the man who brought Wanyama to Britain back in 2011. He gave him a platform, and combined with the fact we’re still in Europe and in the midst of an exciting title race, there’s plenty of reasons to be excited about joining Celtic.

It’ll be interesting to see who else steps up their interest in Wanyama in January. Galatasaray is a name we could probably deal with given their current plight.

However, if bigger Champions League outfits start to take an interest, that’s when we’re going to be up against it. For now, Lennon should look to move as soon as possible.