Celtic are the best team in Scotland. There is no doubt about that. They are on the verge of another treble, having already secured the Premiership and League Cup, and made the Scottish Cup final, where they will be taking on Aberdeen. But that does not mean that the Hoops won't look to improve their squad further in the summer.
If recent speculation is anything to go by, it looks like Celtic are intent on signing a defensive midfielder this summer. That is a profile that Brendan Rodgers is missing at the moment.
Such a player could come in handy in Champions League games and against the Rangers domestically. Celtic have been linked with quite a few such players.
One of them is Kalidou Sidibe. In fact, as reported by Africafoot in March, Celtic had reportedly made an initial offer of €2 million to secure the signing of the Guingamp player. Now, there are further developments on his situation.
Celtic closer to signing French midfielder this summer
It appears that Guingamp might be ready to part ways with a few players this summer in order to balance the books. And Sidibe might very well be one of them. As reported by the Daily Record, club president Fred Le Grand told Ouest-France:
"To combat this structural deficit, we plan to sell at least €3million in player sales each season.
"This has been the case for the past four years. We've even gone well beyond this in some seasons, notably last year when we made €6million in transfers.
"Ultimately, we have two or three million left to save each season. We continue to believe in our model, which is to offer a spotlight to young players, whether they're trained or post-trained at the club.
"We've done that pretty well over the past four seasons. That will be the case again this summer; clubs have already inquired about five or six of our players - Picard, Siwe, Sidibé, Sissoko, Nair."
So, it looks like Celtic's chances of signing Sidibe from the French Ligue 2 side this summer have been enhanced. Now, it remains to be seen whether they are successful in getting a deal done or not.
On the other hand, it is also worth pointing out that Celtic have been linked with quite a few other players with similar profiles as well. So, this means that the Frenchman is not the only one they are looking to sign this summer although he appears to be one of their targets.