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Two More Signing Targets Named As One Jets In For Tonight’s Game

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The media, ever trying to work out the next big scoop, is reporting two new fresh transfer targets today. But one of them appears to be a bit more than mere speculation; one of them is flying to Scotland for the game tonight, presumably as a guest of the club.

The surprise one – the one that may be little more than speculation – is Dale Stephens, a player who has a good reputation in England.

He plays in the crucial defensive midfield role and he is out of contract at Brighton.

He is a very decent footballer, and some have expressed surprise that he’s not already at a bigger club. He would add the steel the midfield has been missing.

His name has come out of nowhere, but he will know all about our club. He’s keeping young Richie Towell out of the team at present, and his central midfield partner is Beram Kayal. Either one of them could do an excellent job selling Celtic, as if we needed that.

He wouldn’t be expensive, and at 27 that’s important because if we’re taking a punt we don’t want it to be a costly one, which isn’t to say that this move is a definite in the first place.

It may well just be people down south putting two and two together and making ten. The player is linked with Burnley, but they might be better going after Jailbird Joey again because it’s hard to imagine any player turning down a move to Celtic Park for that.

The player who’s flying to Glasgow for the game is Darlington Nagbe, who plays for Portland Timber right now in the MLS. He is more of an attacking midfield player, and this one has interesting possibilities because any US international will increase our profile in a country that’s grown to love football and whose television market is one of the biggest in the world.

This one seems like more than just idle chit-chat; Nagbe has even reportedly been shown around the stadium. If he’s coming to Parkhead as a guest of the club tonight that would indicate that talks have already taken place over the move and it’s almost agreed.

If he is in town to discuss a transfer deal I can’t think of a better way to sell him on the merits of the club than a Champions League night at Celtic Park. With any luck we can put on the kind of display that impresses him and the rest of the watching world.

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