Celtic face a significant challenge from Genk if Neil Lennon wants to land midfielder Ismaila Soro during the January transfer window, The Scottish Sun report.
The Celtic boss confirmed to The Daily Record in December that Soro was one of the names on his transfer hit list, but so far no official approach for the player has been reported.
The Sun reckon that Genk have now moved first, lodging a £2.25m bid for the player to Israeli top-flight club Bnei Yehuda.
Last month, his manager Yossi Abukasis made it clear that they won’t be letting the midfielder leave cheaply, quoted by the paper as saying: “We will only sell Soro if we get an offer which matches our valuation.
“We know what he is worth. We know there is growing interest in him and a lot of European clubs have watched him for a long time.”
With interest in the 21-year-old heating up, it appears Celtic will have to move quickly if they want to land one of Lennon’s apparent targets.
What’s his story so far?
Despite being a young player, Soro has had a pretty storied beginning to his football career, already playing for three clubs in three countries.
He started his professional career in Moldova with Saxan Ceadir-Lunga, making 22 appearances, before moving to Belraus to play with FK Gomel.
His greatest progress appears to have come in Israel where he’s made 61 appearances for Bnei Yehuda, helping them win the Israeli Cup and feature in Europa League qualifying.
It’s his recent form that has attracted Celtic interest, with reports in early December surfacing to say we had been actively scouting him, including in a match against Hapoel Be’er Sheva.
If we’re truly keen on bringing him to Glasgow, now would be the time to make it happen.
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