Spanish La Liga side Elche are reportedly ‘best placed’ to sign Barcelona winger and Celtic target Alex Collado.
On Tuesday afternoon, the 23-year-old was linked with a move away from the European giants, seeking more regular game time.
According to Sky Sports, both Celtic and Greek side Olympiacos had enquired about a potential move for the Spaniard, who was also attracting interest from several clubs in his homeland.
Whilst the Barcelona academy graduates’ preferred move was believed to be remaining in Spain, Collado also reportedly favoured playing European football this season.
Many thought this may have handed Ange Postecoglou’s side an upper hand in their pursuit of the attacker after securing an automatic place in the Champions League group stages.
Collado and his representatives were set to meet with the hierarchy at Barcelona this afternoon to discuss his future with the club.
Spanish journalist @Albert_roge provided the latest update on social media, stating that the winger had no intention of signing another new contract at the Camp Nou and was attracting interest from six different clubs.
However, it is La Liga side Elche who are ‘best placed’ to sign Collado, with a potential deal believed to be at the advanced stage.
The deal would see the winger head to the team that finished 13th place in the Spanish top-flight last campaign on a straight loan deal with no option to buy included.
Alex Collado won’t be the last player Celtic are linked to this summer.
So far this summer, we have already seen many players linked with a move to join Ange Postecoglou’s side.
Some rumours have been much stronger than others. However, there appeared to be genuine interest from Celtic’s side in bringing Collado to the club.
With the latest update on the Barcelona man’s future, it looks as though he is edging closer to a move to Elche, and this will be a deal that the Hoops are going to, unfortunately, miss out on.
It may come as a slight frustration to the Celtic manager. However, as Postecoglou has stated on several occasions, he is only interested in players who want to come to Parkhead.
I am sure the 56-year-old will still have a few tricks up his sleeve as we approach the final few weeks of the summer transfer window.
What our interest in Collado has shown is that Celtic are very much still in the market for new additions as the Bhoys look to add the final few touches to the squad for the season ahead.
In other news, Greg Taylor becomes latest Celtic star to express the positives of valuable summer luxury.
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