Lots Of Celtic Transfer Talk, But Most Of It Is People Being Offered To Us.

Doubtless, we are a busy bunch behind the scenes as Ange tries to get in the final players on his short-list. Doubtless, we are upping a gear as the season draws closer. But whatever it is that we are doing, very little – if any of it – has leaked to the media.

They have no idea who our targets are. There will be rumours and counter rumours. There will be sheer, outright bullshit. It’s started already, of course, with a couple of stories about how Ibrox has beaten us to targets. File under fiction.

There are a lot of stories doing the rounds today about people we might be interested in and two I’ve given my support to on this site; Aaron Mooy and Jordan Larsson. These are two of the three positions we want to fill and these guys are available free. Their quality is known. One has already got deep links to Celtic, the other to Ange.

It’s not exactly a shock to see we are properly linked with both, but I’ve read the stories and to be honest there’s nothing in them … at the moment. The agents have approached Celtic, which technically speaking is good enough to generate “in talks with” stories, but really there doesn’t appear to be much more to it than that.

At the moment. I repeat that very deliberately.

The approach has come from their end, but that doesn’t mean that we won’t entertain it. If we sign one or both of these guys it will be because the manager wanted it that way. If we don’t, it will not be because the club did not present him with the options.

Both of these players definitely are options.

Their agents haven’t just approached Celtic to generate some interest, they’ve done it because both players instructed them to because they’d both like to be part of what we’re doing here. They are both available free, so only wages and signing on fees are likely to be an issue and I wouldn’t think they are insurmountable.

The only real issue is whether Ange would want either player, and that’s something only he knows. It is almost certain that if he did that we’d get them, because the board knows this guy has earned the backing and they would move fast on his behalf.

The next week will be very interesting on this front. I think it could be interesting for our transfer business as a whole.

But don’t be surprised if we do a deal with at least one of these guys; as much as the Larsson one is intriguing in so many ways I think Mooy would be the more likely of the two.

But that’s up to the boss. Watch this space.

Have you read our A-Z On Scottish Football Scandal And Corruption? Do it here.