Club have ‘high hopes’ to beat competition for Celtic player – Pushing to ‘poach’ him from Brendan Rodgers’ side

Club have ‘high hopes’ to beat competition for Celtic player – Pushing to ‘poach’ him from Brendan Rodgers’ side

Four days ago, Fussball Transfers reported SC Heerenveen and KV Mechelen are keen on signing Celtic’s Gustaf Lagerbielke. It was also stated Brendan Rodgers’s side will let him leave this summer.

A day later, Heerenveen general manager Ferry de Haan revealed that his side are hopeful of securing the defender’s services.

Saturday’s edition Gazet van Antwerpen claims the Belgian club are still in the battle to sign the Celtic man.

The Sweden international arrived at Celtic Park from IF Elfsborg in August 2023. Brendan Rodgers didn’t rely upon him last season as the centre-back was restricted to 408 minutes from seven league games.

Mechelen and the Eredivisie side want to offer the 24-year-old an escape route before the window closes.

Gazet van Antwerpen claim Lagerbielke is the ‘important option’ for the Jupiler Pro League side to bolster their defence. Therefore, they are pushing to ‘poach’ him from Celtic.

Heerenveen are set to provide competition, but the newspaper claims Mechelen seem to have ‘high hopes’ of acquiring the Swede’s signature.

It’s not made clear whether Mechelen are looking to sign the Celtic player on loan or via a permanent transfer.

Imagine him & Carter-Vickers: Celtic lining up move for “incredible” gem

The summer transfer window officially slams shut in less than seven days and Celtic do not have much time left to get their remaining business over the line.

So far, the Hoops have brought in Viljami Sinisalo, Kasper Schmeichel, Paulo Bernardo, and Adam Idah on permanent deals, with the latter two having been on loan at Parkhead last term.

Brendan Rodgers is reportedly in the market to make further additions to his playing squad with the Scottish giants before the deadline passes next Friday, though.

The Northern Irish head coach is looking to bring in reinforcements for his defensive unit in Glasgow, with a Championship defender on the club’s radar.

Celtic’s interest in American titan

According to The Scottish Sun, Rodgers is lining up a late Celtic swoop to sign Sheffield United central defender Auston Trusty before the end of the window.

The report claims that the Hoops are interested in signing the USA international to bolster their defence, a year on from his £5m move to the Blades from Arsenal.

It states that Sheffield United are keen on a deal for Bhoys winger Mikey Johnston, who returned to Glasgow this summer after a loan spell with West Bromwich Albion, and that he could be used as part of a move for Trusty.

However, the outlet does not reveal whether it could be a straight swap or if one team would offer a player and some money in exchange to make a transfer happen, so it remains to be seen how viable it is at the moment.

If Celtic do manage to secure a swoop for the USA international before the end of the window, though, he could come in as an excellent partner for Cameron Carter-Vickers.

Why Celtic should sign Auston Trusty

Firstly, signing another left-footed defender, who can play at centre-back or left-back, makes perfect sense when Liam Scales and Greg Taylor are the only two in the first-team squad.

Trusty could come in to provide both players with competition for their place in the team, particularly for Scales in the left centre-back position, as that is the American’s natural role.

He is a naturally left-footed player and could complement Carter-Vickers, who is a right-footed defender and operates on the right side of the pairing, whilst they have already played alongside each other for USA U20s in the past.

Auston Trusty

22/23 Championship

23/24 Premier League

Appearances

44

32

Tackles + interceptions per game

3.8

2.6

Error led to shot or goal

0

3

Ground duel success rate

59%

55%

Aerial duel success rate

56%

55%

Stats via Sofascore

As you can see in the table above, Trusty enjoyed far more success on loan with Birmingham in the Championship than he did as part of a Sheffield United team that picked up just 16 points in the Premier League last season.

The 26-year-old titan, who was hailed as “incredible” by former teammate George Friend, won the majority of his duels on the ground and in the air without making a single error that led to a shot or goal in the second tier in England.

If he can recapture that form then he could be a reliable and dominant partner for Carter-Vickers, who won 68% of his duels in the Scottish Premiership last term,

Celtic face fan fury if they make unthinkable transfer call and throw league title into jeopardy – Chris Sutton

Business is picking up at Parkhead but the Record Sport columnist has named the non-negotiables

Celtic’s Nicolas Kuhn celebrates with Matt O’Riley and Kyogo Furuhashi after scoring to make it 3-0 against Kilmarnock

The prospect of losing Matt O’Riley this summer is a tough one for Celtic fans to stomach. But allowing Kyogo to also head out the door would be absolutely unthinkable right now.

Celtic shouldn’t even contemplate the possibility of the striker leaving. They can’t entertain it – at any price. There’s been enough said about O’Riley and people have just about got their heads around his likely departure. Kyogo is a different matter. The story this week about Manchester City being interested has got supporters in a panic – and it’s understandable. The notion of Celtic losing two of their best players going into the final week of the transfer window makes my stomach lurch as well.

A few of my colleagues in England have scoffed a little about the City link with Kyogo. But I can understand why they’d be looking at him. I have no doubt Kyogo could cut it in the Premier League. You look at his movement, his speed, his ability to get across his man and attack the near post. He would score goals for City, for sure.

And I’m sure plenty will understand the attraction for Celtic if they can get £20million plus for a 29-year-old striker. That’s not the point though. Celtic might get a ton of money – but Kyogo is irreplaceable.

Let’s face it, they are not going to go out and replace him with another £20m frontman. It will be a player who has potential and will need to develop. That’s the reality at Celtic and I get the model of buying cheap and then selling big.

But at some point they are going to need to draw a line in the sand. They need to show they are a club with Champions League ambitions rather than just a battery farm for other clubs to come along and pick up their top players whenever they feel like it.

Everyone gets worked up about City but I’m not sure that would be the right career move for Kyogo either. Yes, he’d make plenty of money, but he’d be the back-up for Erling Haarland.

Would he be happy sitting on the bench every week and playing the odd Carabao Cup tie? It wouldn’t be for me. He’d be as well taking the Saudi money as far as I am concerned.

Likewise for O’Riley. It’s been assumed his move to Brighton is inevitable but is it the best place for him? I’m not so sure about that one either. Brighton are a good club, who play nice football and have an imaginative manager.

But the Amex Stadium is not Celtic Park on Champions League nights. Of course it’s the league more than anything and there’s the attraction of playing against the big clubs most weeks.

What about the attraction of winning trophies? O’Riley has the ability to go to the very top and you suspect Brighton won’t be his last port of call. I don’t think he needs a stepping stone move though. It’s not completely out of the question for a player to go directly to a top-six club.

The likes of Virgil van Dijk worked their way to a Premier League winning side after an initial move down south. But Kieran Tierney went straight from Parkhead to Arsenal and I can’t see why O’Riley can’t trod a similar path after another year of performing in the Champions League.

Celtic’s Matt O’Riley (Image: SNS Group)

That is where it really matters and the prospect of going into the competition without Kyogo and O’Riley is a nightmare. I know Brendan Rodgers has talked up some of the performances in Europe last season, but I wasn’t all that convinced.

But any of the decent stuff they did produce, it was O’Riley and Kyogo at the heart of it. Celtic don’t have many Champions League level players – but these two are.

And if they are both allowed to leave at this stage, they might as well roll up the white flag. If one or both go it would also leave Rodgers with a huge amount of work required and not a lot of time to do it.

To lose another two vital men would leave Celtic scrambling for five players – who would need to hit the ground running. In case people have forgotten, Rangers are up next weekend and the first derby is always huge psychologically. Can you imagine the reaction if Celtic sell O’Riley and Kyogo, bring in a couple of prospects for a debut against their big rivals and then they lose the game?

The fans would understandably be furious. This summer should have been about the Champions League but unless they pull something special out the bag, they are now jeopardising the league.

That’s an incredible situation to be in when there was a feeling that if they went out and brought in a few quality additions early in the window then they could absolutely bury Rangers. Instead, there’s a week to go in the window and they are somehow facing the prospect of being weaker than at the end of last season. Celtic need to get it sorted sharpish – while slapping a not for sale sign on Kyogo for starters.

Celtic will resume negotiation to sign Mateusz Bogusz

Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers is hopeful that the Bhoys will sign a few players before the end of the window. 

The Bhoys have agreed a deal to sell star midfielder Matt O’Riley this summer.

The Scottish champions will receive an initial £25 million for the Denmark international, and it would reach around £30 million if add-ons are added.

Losing O’Riley is a massive blow for the club, and Celtic must do everything to bring in proper replacements in the next few days.

According to a report from the Daily Record (page 56), Celtic are stepping up moves to sign Los Angeles playmaker Mateusz Bogusz.

The Hoops are also interested in signing Augsburg midfielder Arne Engels and Sheffield United defender Auston Trusty.

Sky Sports journalist Anthony Joseph has shared a fresh update on Bogusz.

The Bhoys have been in discussion to sign the 23-year-old midfielder for a while, but LAFC didn’t wish to move forward as they wanted to focus on their game against Columbus Crew in the Leagues Cup final.

Celtic will now resume negotiations to sign the former Leeds United midfielder after LAFC’s cup final on Sunday.

Joseph wrote on X: “Update: Celtic will resume negotiations for attacking midfielder Mateusz Bogusz after LAFC’s cup final on Sunday.

“The clubs began discussions over a deal for the 23yo. However, LAFC don’t wish to move forward until after they have played Columbus Crew in the Leagues Cup final.”

Bogusz has been enjoying a great time in the MLS, where he scored 13 goals and provided five assists this season. In total, he has scored 16 goals and registered six assists in all competitions.

His performances have been noticed by several top clubs, and he would represent a smart signing for Celtic should the deal go through.

It won’t be easy to find a like-for-like replacement for O’Riley, and it would be hard for anyone to replicate his numbers (goals and assists), but Rodgers will look to utilise the money properly to make a better squad

Celtic make move to sign Mateusz Bogusz – sources

Celtic are interested in signing LAFC playmaker Mateusz Bogusz with star man Matt O’Riley likely to leave the club, sources have told Football Insider.

Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, senior correspondent Pete O’Rourke revealed that Celtic have made an enquiry about signing the 23-year-old Polish midfielder.

Football Insider revealed (August 20) that O’Riley has informed Celtic that he wants to join Brighton if a deal can be agreed after the Premier League club’s £25 million plus add-ons offer.

Any deal to bring Bogusz to Celtic Park will be dependent on O’Riley leaving the club, but Celtic are said to be very keen on the former Poland Under-21 international.

Celtic eye Mateusz Bogusz as Matt O’Riley replacement

Bogusz has been used in multiple positions since swapping Leeds United last year for LAFC, including as a striker, which is why he’s managed to score 17 goals in 33 appearances so far this MLS season.

Like O’Riley, Bogusz is forward-thinking, capable of either finding a pass or carrying the ball forward on his own and bringing defenders out of position.

Celtic currently have plenty of midfield options, even if O’Riley were to leave, but they lack the type of player that would be able to contribute the same kind of output.

The Scottish champions have started the season well and will be the nation’s only representative in the Champions League following Rangers’ failure to qualify for the group stage.

Celtic submit offer to sign “box-to-box” in-demand midfielder for Rodgers

Hoping to seal their transfer window with late reinforcements, Celtic have reportedly made an opening offer to sign a midfield addition for Brendan Rodgers this summer.

Celtic transfer news

At the start of the summer, it looked as though the Bhoys were willing to settle on their title-winning side in the Scottish Premiership, but they soon got going with their reinforcements, welcoming the likes of Kasper Schmeichel, Paulo Bernardo and Adam Idah on a permanent basis. And the rumours have only continued since their arrivals, as those in Scotland look to end their summer on a high.

Midfield seems to be the focus too. Names such as Alvyn Sanches and Mateusz Bogusz linked to Celtic Park in recent weeks. Bogusz could be a particularly impressive addition, with his ability to play as both an attacking midfielder and centre-forward a trait that could replace Matt O’Riley and Kyogo Furuhashi if both headed for the exit door in the next week.

O’Riley has, of course, been the subject of interest from Brighton and the player is now set to move to the Premier League side in a record Scottish exit worth an initial £25m that could rise to £30m.

According to French journalist Nabil Djellit, Celtic have submitted their first offer to sign Mahamadou Diawara amid his struggle for game time at Ligue 1 giants Lyon. The Scottish champions aren’t the only side reportedly interested, however, with Nantes, RC Lens and others all chasing the teenager’s signature in the closing days of the window.

Just 19 years old, Diawara is a similar prospect to Sanches, who Celtic have also been linked with. Clearly eyeing young midfielders full of potential, Diawara could yet emerge to become a replacement for O’Riley at the heart of Rodgers’ midfield.

“Brilliant” Diawara needs summer move

In need of game time after starting just four games in Ligue 1 for Lyon last season, Diawara could get the opportunity he so desperately needs at Celtic before the end of the month. Potentially following in the footsteps of former Frenchmen to complete moves to the Scottish giants such as the highly successful Moussa Dembele, the midfielder may yet realise his potential in Glasgow.

The 19-year-old has certainly earned plenty of fans from his time in France, including U23 scout Antonio Mango, who dubbed Diawara a “brilliant signing” and a “box-to-box” midfielder when Lyon secured his signature from Paris Saint-Germain just last summer.

Just one summer later and whilst things haven’t quite worked out for Diawara, Celtic have seemingly swooped in with an attempt to end the teenager’s nightmare. Diawara may well be one to keep an eye on in the final week of the transfer window.