It could take weeks for Ange Postecoglou to arrive in the UK despite the expectation of Celtic announcing his appointment within 72 hours.
The Scottish Sun has reported that the club have verbally agreed on personal terms with the Greek-Australian. Celtic have also successfully negotiated a compensation fee with Yokohama F. Marinos.
The club will officially announce him as the new permanent manager over the next few days.
However, the paper also says that it could take weeks for him to arrive in the country.
It’s stated that the likelihood is Postecoglou will first meet up with the squad at the scheduled pre-season camp in Wales. He is expected to go straight there rather than travel to Scotland first.
Celtic are due to head south on July 5th.
Meanwhile, a club source has told the paper that the UEFA licence issue is nothing more than a formality.
Delayed Postecoglou arrival at Celtic won’t go down well
It all adds further unease to an appointment that is already proving unpopular with sections of the support.
Celtic will start pre-season training at Lennoxtown later this month before the camp in Wales.
If Postecoglou’s arrival is indeed delayed, that means John Kennedy will be the one overseeing initial preparations for the new season. Fans certainly won’t like that.
With European qualifiers due to kick-off on 20th July, there really is little time to waste. It’s rapidly looking like the club have almost written off Champions League qualification this summer.
With key players such as Kristoffer Ajer and Odsonne Edouard also nearly out the door, there’s a dawning reality that the entirety of next season could well be a transitional one.
Given Neil Lennon resigned in February, the club really should be much further along in its preparations for next season than it is.
In other news, Odsonne Edouard is set to join Leicester City for £15m.
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