Report: Celtic clinch a deal for Hatem Abd Elhamed

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The signing of Hatem Abd Elhamed looks close to completion.

According to the Scottish Sun, a deal has been done to bring the centre-back from Hapoel Be’er Sheva to Scotland. They report that he will sign a four-year deal with an apparent £1.6million fee agreed for his services.

Be’er Sheva apparently wanted £2m, with Celtic originally offering £1.5m. A compromise appears to have been agreed, and the Sun also believe an option to extend the four-year contract by another year is there too.

Interestingly, it comes after Martin Dowden of the BBC claimed last night that Lennon told him to expect a new signing in the next few days. With all of the speculation surrounding Elhamed, it’s not difficult to put two and two together.

If Celtic do sign him before the day is out, he can be registered for the Champions League tie against Nomme Kalju. If we don’t, then he’ll unfortunately have to miss out.

Hatem Abd Elhamed to Celtic a real bonus

If the deal gets completed, this is a real bonus for Celtic. It would secure our fourth and surely final centre-back. The position would be sorted for the season ahead, and would allow us to focus solely on a right-back.

Interestingly, Elhamed can also play in that position too. You have to wonder whether that means Kristoffer Ajer will drop back into centre-back from now on. If Elhamed does sign, it would make sense to put him in that position.

Be’er Sheva’s season hasn’t started yet, and, similarly to Celtic, it kicks off next month. It would therefore also be plausible to question where Elhamed is at with his fitness levels. Christopher Jullien has, of course, shown just how quickly it can take to get up to speed. With a bit of luck, it would only take Elhamed a similar time-frame if he hasn’t been training much.

The deal hasn’t been confirmed by Celtic as it stands. But it’s all starting to add up with Lennon’s apparent signing reveal yesterday.

Should it go ahead, it’s another vital area of the squad ticked off when it comes to recruitment. Getting it done today and before the registration deadline, meanwhile, would be even more ideal.

The Sun is clearly confident that this has been completed. News on a medical hasn’t been reported, however, and therefore we could still be waiting a short while before anything official comes out.