Celtic might be forced to put off signing till the summer

The bad news keeps coming for Celtic but this time it is not on the pitch but off it. According to The Daily Record, Celtic are set to miss out on the winger this window due to Scottish League One’s three week shut down.

Thomas Robert caught national attention during last summer, as he snubbed reported interest from the English Premier League, Bundesliga and his native Ligue 1 to sign for Lanarkshire club Airdrieonians, following his exit from French outfit Montpellier HSC.

Son of former Newcastle United star Laurent Robert, the 20-year-old is rated highly in his homeland and is expected to depart the Excelsior Stadium before too long.

However, the temporary curtailment of the Scottish third tier looks to have handed his employers the chance to keep hold of their star man until the end of the current campaign.

Could Robert be off to Celtic in the summer?

Represented by Gold Sports Management agency, the Daily Record reports his agent Paul Tait as saying:

"“It’s unfortunate the league is off until February. It would’ve been good for Thomas to get more game time during January. Not much has been happening and clubs can’t get the opportunity to watch players, so it’s looking like it might be the summer until the right deal comes up.”"

More from Celtic FC News

• Celtic handed fresh injury doubt before Feyenoord game
• Celtic’s £40.7 million announcement should scare Rangers
• Brendan Rodgers makes superb claim about returning Celtic player
• BBC pundit makes sensational claim about Celtic hero Kyogo
• Kyogo Furuhashi sends clear message to Celtic doubters

Scouting prospective signings has become progressively more difficult during the current pandemic, as physical access to stadiums to watch players is extremely limited.

This coupled with the resumption of Scottish League One not being scheduled until February, the Hoops might decide to wait until the summer to swoop for the Paris-born winger.

While he is not playing at a top level, the 20-year-old has made a good impression for the League One side, scoring 4 goals and providing 2 assists for them across all competitions. The kind of interest that he had generated when leaving Montpellier does suggest that he has good potential and this just might be him trying to get regular first-team football before making the jump to a first division side.

Arch-rivals Rangers are also rumoured to be monitoring the youngster’s situation, so Celtic will need to move quick in order to secure Robert’s signature.