Celtic have made transfer bid for international centre-back

A new centre-back will probably be near the top of Celtic’s summer wish list. The club struggled at the back through the course of the previous season.

There were a couple of reasons for that. Firstly, Christopher Jullien spent the majority of the season on the sidelines dealing with injuries. Secondly, Shane Duffy failed to find his feet in Scottish football after arriving to much fanfare on a season-long loan from Brighton & Hove Albion.

Now, with Kristoffer Ajer expected to leave in the summer with just a year left on his contract, the club might very well be looking to sign a centre-back in the near future. And it appears that they might have already taken their first steps regarding a move.

As reported by Aftonbladet (via 67 Hail Hail), Celtic have made a transfer bid for Joseph Okumu. The 24-year-old centre-back currently plays for IF Elfsborg and the Kenyan national team.

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A number of other clubs have been linked with the Celtic target as well

Okumu appears to be a man in demand at the moment. It was last season that he established himself as a first-team star for IF Elfsborg and it goes without saying that he has managed to catch the eye of clubs around Europe.

Other than the Hoops; Lorient, Reims, Gent and the Rangers are the clubs who are believed to be interested in signing the Kenyan international.

At this point of time, it looks like Lorient have put in the highest transfer bid of around €3 million but IF Elfsborg are looking for a transfer fee of around €4 million in order to let the centre-back leave.

It is not hard to see why the Hoops might want to sign someone like Okumu. Standing at 6′ 4″ tall, he can replace the imposing figure of Ajer, who looks to be headed for the Parkhead exit, in the heart of their defence. Okumu’s style of play has also been compared to that of Virgil van Dijk, which is an exciting though for any Celtic fan.