One agent has played down talk of his client joining Celtic this summer despite reports claiming the contrary. It emerged on Monday that the Hoops were reportedly closing in on the permanent signing of Marcelo Saracchi.
The left-back had a solid spell on loan with the Hoops last season, appearing regularly during the run-in that saw Celtic win a league and cup double against the odds, following a start to the season to forget.
Since then, Saracchi's loan deal has ended, and he has returned to Argentina and parent club Argentina, and his agent says there is no news beyond that.
Saracchi's agent speaks out
Responding to reports that Celtic were closing in on a deal for the full-back, Saracchi's agent has confirmed there has been no progress.
Marcelo Tejera told CeltsAreHere: "The first thing that needs to happen is for the club’s CEO to tell me of their interest in the player. And that never happened."
As things stand, Saracchi will be with Boca Juniors for the foreseeable future, at least until Celtic or another club make an approach. Boca do seem willing to part ways with the left-back at this stage, but Celtic have been slow with their business this summer, and no deal appears to be close.
It's likely Saracchi will cost around £2million to sign permanently, and Martin O'Neill has described him as a 'special character'. Celtic need more depth on the left, too, given Kieran Tierney's injury history, but whether or not they feel Saracchi is the right answer to that is another thing altogether.
Celtic's worrying window goes on
Many Celtic fans are now growing very concerned about how this transfer window is going. Big mistakes were made with recruitment last summer, and after a far from dominant season, it was hoped those would be corrected this summer.
But so far, while the Hoops' rivals begin to make moves in the window, there has only been silence at Parkhead. Signings will come, there is little doubting that given O'Neill demanded as much before taking the job.
But when you consider Arne Engels, Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate are all likely to leave the club this summer, you can certainly understand why Bhoys fans are frustrated that the club hasn't taken a proactive approach. Given those exits, it would have been a wise idea to come into this window on the front foot, but it looks more and more likely that pre-season will start with either no or very few new faces.
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