Flavio Nazinho, “high on Celtic’s wishlist” last summer, has now completed a move to AS Monaco.
The left-back attracted interest from Glasgow last summer after his form at Cercle Brugge and the Under-21 European Championships.
A product of the youth academy at Sporting CP, Nazinho was high on Celtic’s list, but he ultimately stayed put in Belgium for another season.
Needless to say, his profile has risen even further and he has recently been unveiled by AS Monaco.
🤦♂️ Still no sign of an agreement for either of these two Celtic favourites to stay…
The season ended on May 23rd 🗓️
Flavio Nazinho makes €5 million move to AS Monaco
Monaco confirmed the arrival of Nazinho on Tuesday, for a fee of €5 million from the Belgian club.
If that sounds cheap for a 22-year-old left-back excelling in the Belgian top-flight, it’s because it is — Monaco had a unique benefit in this deal.
READ MORE: Celtic miss out on Soufiane El-Faouzi as Schalke stay ‘agreed in principle’
Monaco and Cercle Brugge have the same owner, Russian billionaire and oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev. Players have frequently moved between the sides in recent years.
As for Celtic’s left-back search last summer, it eventually ended with the arrival of Marcelo Saracchi on loan from Boca Juniors.
This signing worked out alright. The defender made 27 appearances across the season, a figure that undoubtedly would’ve been higher had it not been for injury.
He is well-liked by Martin O’Neill, and many in the Parkhead support would be in favour of the move becoming permanent, but this is yet to be put into action.
Celtic are reportedly insisting on a loan deal with Boca instead of paying their asking price, which would reportedly be worth £2 million.
Saracchi’s agent has encouraged him to stay at Celtic, though he has already been linked with clubs in Turkey and elsewhere in Argentina.
Should Celtic fans be worried about O’Neill’s transfer comments?
Celtic’s dreadful summer recruitment last year
The club’s summer business last year was so poor that it eventually led to the departure of Brendan Rodgers.
Rodgers described Hayato Inamura and Shin Yamada as ‘club signings’, though the suggestion that the pair were signed without the endorsement of the manager was strongly refuted by Dermot Desmond.
Jahmai Simpson-Pusey made just one Celtic appearance after joining on loan from Manchester City. He has just moved to FC Koln for £5 million.
The worst of the lot was probably the aforementioned Balikwisha, who cost £4.5 million but started just three games all season.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
