Celtic’s quest to land top target Raul Moro suffered a setback last Friday night when the £8.5million winger sustained a fractured collarbone in Real Valladolid’s 2-1 defeat to Espanyol.
The 22-year-old required surgery, with reports stating that he faced two to three months on the sidelines.
Mail Sport first reported Celtic’s interest in the former Lazio player. And the Parkhead club have now joined Ajax in seeking clarity on just how long Moro will be out of action after reports in the Netherlands claimed that he might be back in as little as five weeks.
If the injury is as serious as first feared, the Scottish champions have a list of alternatives.
Aston Villa want to ward off interest in attacker Louie Barry from Celtic and Lens by offering the 21-year-old a new contract.
Another player high on the shortlist compiled for manager Brendan Rodgers is £7million-rated Norwegian winger Sondre Orjasaeter.
Brendan Rodgers will have to find alternatives if top target Raul Moro remains on the sidelines
Moro suffered a fractured collarbone playing for Real Valladolid last Friday
The 22-year-old winger was clearly in some distress as he was stretchered off the field
If Rodgers gets the depth he needs on the left side don’t be surprised if Daizen Maeda plays more games as a central striker.
Manchester United target was on Celtic’s radar before Tierney talks
Celtic are on the verge of completing a pre-contract agreement with Arsenal’s Kieran Tierney.
But Manchester United’s talks with Serie A side Lecce over left back Patrick Dorgu offer a tantalising glimpse of what might have been.
Last summer, the Parkhead club compiled a list of potential left back signings to challenge Greg Taylor. And coveted 20-year-old Dorgu was close to the top.
With Lecce keen to secure top dollar, Celtic hatched a plan B. Aware that Arsenal were unlikely to take up the option of another year on Tierney, they resolved to sign a left back on loan until fans’ favourite KT was up for grabs.
Alex Valle came in from Barcelona in the final week of the window. And Serie A Lecce are now holding out for £40million from Manchester United or Napoli for Danish international Dorgu.
Patrick Dorgu of Lecce was on Celtic’s radar but is now being chased by Manchester United
Arsenal’s Tierney is on the verge of completing a pre-contract agreement with Celtic
Could former Rangers star be a party pooper with Young Boys?
It’s fair to say that Cedric Itten never really hit the heights in Scotland during his two seasons with Rangers.
Signed by Steven Gerrard for a fee in excess of £2.5million in August 2020, the Swiss striker struggled to nail down a regular first-team place.
Scoring eight goals in 48 matches across two seasons in Glasgow, it was a fairly modest return for Itten before he was farmed out on loan to Bundesliga side Greuther Furth.
Rangers eventually cut their losses and sold him to Young Boys in June 2022 – but his career has actually flourished since returning to his homeland.
Itten has netted 44 goals in just over 100 games for Young Boys, helping them win the Swiss league title last season.
He looks like he could well be their best bet for a goal in their Champions League clash at Parkhead. Celtic sit 21st in the new 36-team table with two group matches remaining, two points above the cut-off zone to make it through to the play-offs, and only one point off 16th, which would guarantee a valuable home second leg.
In an extremely congested middle section of the table, a victory would be a huge step towards making it to the second phase of the competition for the first time in 12 years.
The Swiss champions essentially have nothing to play for, sitting rock bottom having lost all six matches so far in this season’s tournament. But they remain a dangerous proposition, despite the fact they have only just returned from their winter break.
Cedric Itten of Young Boys is challenged by Manchester City’s Ruben Dias
Itten is formerly of Rangers and enjoyed success in his two previous games against Celtic
Itten actually beat Celtic both times he played against them in 2020. That turned out to be the season from hell for Celtic as 10-in-a-row went up in smoke.
If he can score the goals to cause a shock for Young Boys, he would once again be the party-pooper in the east end of Glasgow.
Sinisalo’s absence suggests Schmeichel is here to stay
Name the Celtic player who played at Hampden at the end of last season, has trained every day at Lennoxtown this term and yet has still to play a competitive minute?
The answer is the lesser-spotted Viljami Sinisalo, the goalkeeper who played 45 minutes for Finland against Scotland in the Euros warm-up game prior to moving from Aston Villa to Celtic for £1million.
With Brendan Rodgers’ side set to face Unai Emery’s men in the Champions League next week, the 23-year-old finds himself in a strange position.
When Kasper Schmeichel joined the club, there was no doubt that the Denmark captain would be a direct replacement for the retiring Joe Hart.
The perceived wisdom was that, together with goalie coach Stevie Woods, the Dane would bring on the Finn in training so that he was ready to replace him when he hung upon the gloves.
Viljami Sinisalo and Schmeichel have a chat during training at Lennoxtown this week
Despite featuring in pre-season, Sinisalo hasn’t sampled any first-team action. Even when Rodgers took a shadow side to play Sligo Rovers in a friendly in October, Scott Bain was in goal.
This doesn’t mean that Celtic don’t believe the Finn is up to the job. He’s been on the bench in their Champions League matches.
But it does indicate he’s not yet at the stage where Rodgers believes he’s quite ready.
Celtic signed Schmeichel on a one-year deal with a one-year option. That gave them a get-out if his powers started to wane in his late 30s or if Sinisalo’s talent could be held back no longer.
Schmeichel and Rodgers have been coy on the issue so far, but everything points towards the Dane remaining at the club next season.
Hayes looks like she’s played her last game for Celtic
It hasn’t been the best of weeks for Celtic’s women, who started it with a Sky Sports Cup semi-final defeat by Rangers and now look set to lose one of their best players.
Elena Sadiku’s side were beaten 2-1 by their city rivals last Sunday, when goals by Rio Hardy and Katie Wilkinson early in the second half rendered Emma Lawton’s late strike a consolation.
Caitlin Hayes was in the starting line-up at New Douglas Park, but all the signs are that it will be her last appearance, with a move to Brighton & Hove Albion imminent.
Caitlin Hayes will be a great loss for Celtic once she makes her expected move to Brighton
Hayes looks to have made her last appearance in last Sunday’s game with Rangers
The 29-year-old Ireland international, who has been a key figure at Celtic since joining them in 2020, had already been linked with clubs in England, Spain and America.
The hope was that Celtic, with whom she signed a three-year deal 18 months ago, would be able to retain the popular player at least until the summer.
But reports suggest she is all set for a medical at Brighton, who are fifth in the Women’s Super League and fought off competition from Everton to secure her services.
Hayes’ departure will be a big blow for Celtic, who can ill afford to be weakened as push comes to shove in the SWPL. Sadiku’s side are fifth in the table, six points behind leaders Glasgow City with a game in hand.
Agbaire’s made a bumper start with Broony’s men
Celtic youngster Lenny Agbaire could hardly have asked for a better start to his loan spell with Ayr United, having agreed a move to Somerset Park earlier this month.
Since signing a temporary deal with the Championship side, who are managed by former Celtic captain Scott Brown, the 19-year-old defender has settled in nicely.
Having made his debut as a substitute in a 2-0 win against Dunfermline Athletic, he was given a start in Ayr’s Scottish Cup tie against Broxburn Athletic on Saturday.
Within 16 minutes, he had scored his first senior goal, heading home a corner kick by Patrick Reading and setting the visitors on their way to record a 8-0 triumph.
Lenny Agbaire has joined Ayr United on a loan spell from Celtic
It’s early days of course. Lowland League Broxburn were not a step-up for Agbaire, who played against them at that level for Celtic’s B team last season.
But the centre-half, who joined Celtic at 15, will be hoping that it gives him a platform from which to accelerate his development between now and the end of the season.
Under contract till the summer of 2026, Agbaire was part of the Celtic team that Brendan Rodgers took to Ayr for a pre-season friendly in July.
He showed up well enough against Ayr strikers George Oakley and Anton Dowds to convince Brown that he was worth acquiring when the January window opened.
Ayr are second in the Championship table, just two points behind Falkirk, albeit with a game more played. Nailing down a place in Brown’s promotion-seeking team will not be easy, but Agbaire has set off on the right foot.
Macari and Littler hoping United hit the bullseye against Rangers
Darts star Luke Littler was photographed sitting alongside former Celtic midfielder Lou Macari last Sunday as Manchester United lost 3-1 at home to Brighton & Hove Albion.
Standards have slumped alarmingly at United, where Macari spent 10 years as a player, and their latest embarrassing defeat was not ideal as he played host to one of the country’s elite sportsmen.
Littler, 17, recently became the youngest player in history to win the world darts championship. A big United fan, he proudly paraded his trophy during the half-time interval at Old Trafford.
Celtic legend Macari enjoyed the company of world darts champion Luke Littler
Macari, meanwhile, joined him in the stand to watch what was another humiliation for United. ‘No, I didn’t challenge him to a game of darts,’ tweeted the 75-year-old when their photo was posted on social media. ‘A great champion.’
Macari, now a pundit for MUTV, joined the club in 1973 after seven years with Celtic, where he won five titles, two Scottish Cups and scored 56 goals. He also had a short spell as manager in season 1993-94.
Given his allegiances, he will be desperate to see a big improvement in United on Thursday night when Rangers visit Old Trafford in the Europa League.
Macari is fondly remembered in the east end of Glasgow, so much so that, when the photo was posted on Sunday, one Celtic fan replied: ‘An absolute superstar (and Luke Littler).’
