Report: Vinicius Souza prepared to play long-game on future as Celtic arrange talks

By John McGinley

June 18, 2022

Vinicius Souza is in no rush to decide on his playing future despite Celtic and other clubs showing serious interest this month, The Scottish Daily Mail has reported today. [18/06 print edition, page 124]

The Mail cite sources close to the player as telling them Souza will study all offers on the table closely and won’t be rushed into making a decision.

In fact, it’s said he could wait until the end of the window to find the best option for him next season. This could drag on until August.

The newspaper was the first to report Celtic’s interest in the midfielder, which has now been verified by separate reporting across a number of different outlets.

That includes Sky Sports, who updated yesterday that the City Group’s preferred move for the Brazilian was a loan switch to Celtic.

Today’s Mail states that the Bhoys are yet to have discussions with his representatives but that these have been scheduled and there’s a hope he can be convinced to move to Glasgow.

As discussed previously, many other clubs are interested in his services including Ajax, PSV, Bologna, Club Brugge and Fenerbahce.

Two of these clubs, Ajax and Brugge, are also a direct entrants to the Champions League group stages, while PSV and Fenerbahce find themselves in qualifying.

That means Celtic’s participation isn’t exactly a guarantee to lure him to Celtic Park, though it won’t hurt of course.

We also know from past public comments that Ange Postecoglou feels playing for Celtic should be seen as an honour for prospective signings, rather than something we have to twist their arm on.

I’d also suspect he’d like to get his signings in the door as early as possible.

So there’s a long way to go on this one and it appears that Souza is very much prepared to play the long game. I wouldn’t expect anything to imminently happen as Celtic also weigh up all their options.

In other news, Kyogo Furuhashi left buzzing by Japanese TV appearance ahead of Celtic return.