Celtic have reportedly had a bid rejected for Fares Ghedjemis, who has now had a €10-15 million price tag slapped on him by Frosinone.
In an agonising near-miss, Ghedjemis rejected Celtic in January after a deal had been agreed at less than half of that figure.
Since then, the winger has helped his club in their promotion from to Serie A, though he looks set to depart this summer.
Celtic have reportedly already had a bid rejected, but the idea of an agreement with the competition and price tag feels pie-in-the-sky.
🤦♂️ Still no sign of an agreement for either of these two Celtic favourites to stay…
The season ended on May 23rd 🗓️
Celtic have had a bid rejected for €10-15m Fares Ghedjemis, Monaco in pole position
According to Tuttomercatoweb, Lazio have recently entered the race for the Algerian international, but Monaco are currently in pole position to land him.
Borussia Dortmund, Lille and Atalanta have also been credited with interest.
READ MORE: Luke Graham ‘agrees’ Dundee exit as Celtic-linked defender heads for medical
Celtic appear to be fishing in too large a pond here, something which has damaged them in the transfer window in the past.
They wasted months in an ultimately-unsuccessful bid to sign Dinamo Zagreb’s Dominik Livakovic in 2023; he ended up joining Fenerbahce on huge money.
Of course, this is not to say that Celtic should never aim high in the transfer market. Kieran Tierney, Kasper Schmeichel and Kelechi Iheanacho have all recently arrived in Glasgow with top-level pedigree.
But Celtic are often compared to their nearest competitors in the European market; particularly clubs in Belgium and Scandinavia who routinely overperform in Europe.
Most of them don’t achieve this by convincing players to reject huge money from elsewhere – they get them in early.
In order to have success in doing this, you need to have a cutting-edge recruitment process. A look at how Celtic’s recent ‘project’ signings have got on tells you just how desperately lacking this is at Parkhead.
Celtic look set to release more merchandise this summer.
Thoughts on this Celtic fans and how the club expect YOU to spend money while they hoard THEIRS? 👇
Fares Ghedjemis’ agent on Celtic decision
Fabrizio Ferrari, the excellently-named agent of Ghedjemis, said of the January interest: “The renewal [with Frosinone]? It was an option already present in the contract signed with Frosinone that it was their right to exercise.
“The market rumours about him in January? He really wanted to finish the season with a promotion.
“This was the boy’s intention, with Frosinone then potentially monetising the operation in the summer.”
Ghedjemis scored on his debut for Algeria against Guatemala in March, and will face Argentina, Jordan and Austria in North America in Group J this summer.
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