Celtic have identified Kelechi Iheanacho as their primary candidate to become a new striker.
It was a bitterly disappointing day as the Hoops missed out on a number of targets, including Kasper Dolberg, who signed for Ajax instead.
Chris Sutton slammed David Datro Fofana for rejecting Celtic too after he turned down the chance to go north of the border, only for his loan to Charlton Athletic to break down.
With time against them, Celtic began talking to Iheanacho, who is now a free agent after Sevilla cancelled his contract, about joining the club.
Now he is no longer on the Spanish club’s books, Celtic should have more time to finalise terms, but there is one catch that they must consider.
Celtic need to register their Europa League squad
After crashing out of the Champions League to Kairat Almaty, Brendan Rodgers and his side have a Europa League campaign to deal with.
The Hoops will go up against Feyenoord and Roma, among others, in the competition and the deadline to register their squad is creeping up.
UEFA’s deadline for clubs to register their 25-man squad is 11pm tonight (Wednesday 2 September).
This means that if Iheanacho isn’t signed, sealed and delivered by the deadline, he won’t be allowed to feature in the Europa League.
Who is likely to miss out on Celtic’s Europa League squad?
There aren’t too many players that are likely to be left out of the squad.
Hayato Inamura wasn’t included in the Champions League squad but following the departures of more first team players, may be included to boost the numbers.
New signing Sebastian Tounekti will be included, as will fellow wide man Michel-Ange Balikwisha.
Players under the age of 21 who are homegrown don’t need to be officially registered, so the likes of Colby Donovan won’t be on the list.
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