A £14million bid plus Chancel Mbemba could be on the cards for Celtic for Olivier Ntcham.
According to the Scottish Sun, this is the bid that Porto are readying to make to lure the Frenchman to Portugal. And if they do, they surely shouldn’t expect much resistance from the Scottish Champions.
Ntcham has been one of the under-performers this season. Despite his big reputation at Parkhead and the fact he has 30 appearances to his name this season, he hasn’t been consistent enough.
Therefore, the £14m alone is a steal. But the chance to get ex-Newcastle defender Mbemba in would be another huge boost.
The signing of Mbemba would sort out another key area for Celtic during the transfer window. The club have been needing a new centre-back to replace Dedryck Boyata, who will leave the club at the end of the season. With Filip Benkovic also away back to Leicester at that stage, Mbemba would solve a massive headache.
Brendan Rodgers is an admirer
Mbemba did interest Brendan Rodgers back in the summer, and is now surplus to requirements in Portugal. Getting him signed up would be a massive boost for the club.
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At just 24-years of age, Mbemba has plenty of potential that needs to be tapped into. Rodgers has shown through the likes of Stuart Armstrong and Callum McGregor that he can seriously bring young players on. It therefore must be an enticing move for Mbemba himself.
Added to that, Ntcham has been poor for most of the season. Struggling to find his form of last season, the Frenchman has seemingly lost his place to Ryan Christie.
With rumours of a Yaya Toure deal also heating up, Ntcham may not be needed much longer. It could be the case that Celtic upgrade on Ntcham through Toure, gain £14m, and finally put to bed their centre-back worries for now.
The deal hasn’t yet been made. Whether it even comes to pass remains to be seen. One thing’s for sure, however – Celtic must bite the hand off if/when it does arrive.