Celtic will not stand in the way of any wantaway players who wish to depart this summer, according to the Daily Record.
In recent days, speculation has been hotting up surrounding the Hoops’ bigger stars. Odsonne Edouard is said to be closing in on a £15million move to Leicester City [The Times]. Kris Ajer, meanwhile, has stated that he’ll be off this summer too [Sky Sports].
And the Record claims that Celtic won’t block players who are ready to depart from leaving the club. In addition to that, the report states that Celtic won’t allow any moves to be dragged deep into pre-season.
Celtic have a monumental rebuild on their hands this summer. Getting money in quickly for Ajer and Edouard, the two most valuable assets at the club, would help us massively.
It also remains to be seen what happens with Ryan Christie and Olivier Ntcham, both of whom have also yet to commit to the club on a new contract.
Celtic ready to say goodbye to wantaway players
It will be interesting to see whether this policy extends to lesser players too. It’s easy to say goodbye to Edouard and Ajer this summer because we’ve been anticipating it for some time.
However, is it the same deal with the likes of Marian Shved and Jack Hendry? After all, the former has already stated that he wants to leave Parkhead for Mechelen this summer. Will Celtic also bow down to players who could force their way into the manager’s plans for next season?
It would be a dangerous open offer for Celtic to make. Not least because you’ll have plenty of players who maybe fancy a move due to the uncertainty that’s surrounding the football club just now.
Regardless, Celtic are making all of the right moves here with regards to players who want away. There’s no point even trying to talk Edouard or Ajer in particular into staying. Their minds have been made up for a long time.
Hopefully, the fact that Celtic want their uncommitted players out the door quickly is also a sign that plenty of signings will be coming in the other way. Celtic could need as many as 13 players in order to have cover for every position. However, that feels like too difficult a task to pull off in one transfer window.
More importantly, it needs to be financed from somewhere. Hopefully Celtic can rake in as much as possible for their big-hitters and use it to revamp the playing staff this summer.
In other news, Ajer has earned the chance to better himself.
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