The latest on Celtic interest in Andy Rojas as rival competition comes to light

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Herediano attacker Andy Rojas is on Celtic’s radar this summer as Brendan Rodgers aims to strengthen his forward line.

Last week, reports emerged signalling that the Bhoys are pursuing the versatile 18-year-old forward, who has become Costa Rica’s youngest-ever star to feature at Copa America.

Since then, it has been mooted that Celtic would only have to pay around £800,000 for his services; however, he is attracting interest from clubs across the European mainland, the United States and Mexico.

Per Transfermarkt, Rojas has made 55 appearances for Herediano, notching ten goals and three assists in total.

Nevertheless, Celtic may have to fight to land the rising star if club vice-president Aquil Ali’s words are anything to go by.

Andy Rojas to Celtic latest as rival competition appears

Cited via The Daily Record, Ali has claimed that the only ‘offer’ on the table at present for Rojas has come from a Portuguese outfit; meanwhile, he also hinted that it would be preferential for Herediano if the 18-year-old made the step into European football.

He stated: “At the moment, the only proposal we have received is an offer from Portugal that we are reviewing. We are also obviously waiting for Andy to return after the Copa America has finished.

“There is interest, and we are waiting. Many clubs make their moves after the Copa América so we are going to wait. Several clubs from Spain, Portugal and Belgium have asked, too, as well as from the MLS, although we would prefer the footballer to go to Europe.

“It’s not about disparaging MLS or anything like that, but we want to try to get Andy Rojas into Europe and have a sell-on clause in case of a second sale. We are looking for a league similar to the ones in Belgium and Portugal, and then he can make the jump to a stronger one.”

Celtic seem determined to search far and wide for talent, a strategy that has bore fruit in the last few years. Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate, Luis Palma and Paulo Bernardo are examples of this policy in action.

Even if Rojas is someone who has been earmarked for the long-term, there is value in trying to secure his signature now before other clubs try to steal a march on the reigning Scottish champions.

On the flip side, that may not be an easy task as admiration towards his potential spreads, meaning we will need to wait and see what happens on that front.