The very latest Celtic transfers news and rumours on January 31 including updates from Brendan Rodgers on Kieran Tierney, Luis Palma and other potential incomings.
Kieran Tierney summer wait
Celtic had hoped to bring Tierney to Parkhead this month with a Champions League knockout playoff to come through.
We now know that will be against Bayern Munich but it is highly unlikely KT will be involved.
Arsenal plan to keep Tierney until the end of the season despite a Celtic pre-contract agreement in place.
It was a move which always hinged on Oleksandr Zinchenko’s £30million possible exit and Mikel Arteta does not want to be short at left-back with the Premier League title still a mathematical possibility.
Rodgers has now confirmed that is the case.
“Does it look unlikely now? Yeah.
“And I won’t speak anymore on it because Kieran, I said the other night, by the summer, will be a Celtic player and that’s it.
“If he’s here later in the month, you’ll know.”
Luis Palma Olympiacos loan close
We told you this week how wideman Palma was closing in on a switch to Olympiacos in the Greek Super League.
The attacker does not quite suit Rodgers’ gameplan even though the manager seemed happy enough with the player as recently as earlier in January.
Now, though, the boss has revealed a loan deal with an option to buy at the end of the six months is on the table and it’s a deal he expects to get over the line before Monday’s deadline.
“Yes, there’s a possibility for Luis to be leaving and I would expect that to go through,” he said, adding: “A loan with an option, yes.”
Any further Celtic business
Rodgers wants a striker to replace Kyogo and he has been pleased to bring Jota back.
But there is more business the gaffer hopes to get done.
Without going into too much detail, Rodgers reiterated his confidence of securing more signings and he explained how his newest acquisition, Jota, will be available vs Motherwell.
“We’re hopeful of improving the squad. I think that is key for us,” Rodgers said.
“Players have gone out. We want to keep the strength in the squad. We’ve brought in a few.
“We have Jota, who we’re really happy with. He’s had a great period here and now he’s got a chance to build on that legacy. He’s a little bit behind in terms of his football fitness, I would say.
“But he’s a fantastic addition for us so hopefully we can add a few more.
“He’ll be in the squad for Sunday.
“We need to work him back up, both in the training, pitching and in the game and then we’ll just build him up over these coming months.”
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