The summer transfer window has picked up speed for Celtic in the last few days. The club have signed another player in the form of Marco Tilio, from Melbourne City FC. Odin Thiago Holm was already brought in from Valerenga earlier. The arrivals have been balanced by news of a possible exit for Jota and Aaron Mooy’s retirement. And now, there’s another midfielder, who could be on his way out of Parkhead.
This potential exit is likely to be less of a blow to the club though. Ismaila Soro was signed back in January of 2020 for a transfer fee around £2 million from Israeli club, Bnei Yehuda.
Soro went out on loan last season to Portuguese club, FC Arouca. With Celtic having further strengthened their midfield since then and possibly further signings to come, it is hard to see the Ivorian getting much playing time at Parkhead moving forward and it looks like an exit might be close.
As reported by Renascenca (via Glasgow Times), Panathinaikos are understood to be the front runners to complete a move for Soro. A deal seems to be “very close”.
£2m Celtic midfielder close to leaving this summer
Panathinaikos have a Champions League second qualifying round tie to play at the end of July and you would expect them to be bringing players in early with that in mind. So we may well hear more on this deal for Soro soon.
With Soro’s contract expiring in the summer of 2024, this could be a good chance for the Hoops to recoup some of the transfer fee they shelled out for the player. And for the Ivorian himself, there is unlikely to be much chance of re-establishing himself back into the squad.
It remains to be seen how things play out over the coming weeks. Do not be surprised to see Soro leave soon though.