Celtic are said to be edging closer to their next signing after Camilo Duran. The Bhoys finally kick-started their summer business with the £5.5million signing of the Qarabag frontman, who scored five Champions League goals last season.
Duran has joined Celtic in Portugal for their pre-season training camp, and so too has Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who was technically the first new deal of the summer, given he was officially released on July 30 and re-signed a few days later.
Celtic now lining up second striker deal
There was no hiding the problem Celtic had developing in the front line after Kelechi Iheanacho was released and neither of last season's two loan strikers were kept on.
The Bhoys were left with just one out-and-out striker on their books on July 1, but Duran has now increased that number to two, and it seems as though the number is about to become a safe three, which is usually an adequate number of frontmen for a season, with a Daizen Maeda-type usually kicking around, offering the ability to play as a striker despite specialising elsewhere.
According to Football Insider, Celtic are closing in on a deal to re-sign Iheanacho on a new deal. The forward joined in the second half of last season and providing some important goals on the way to the league and cup title.
Martin O'Neill has made it clear he would like to re-sign Iheanacho, telling reporters this week:
"I'd like to do something with him. That's the point. Of course, if we can do something relatively quickly, at least he then gets started in pre-season, which is really important for him.
"It's something he didn't have last year. After about three minutes, he was injured against Sturm Graz and he then hurt himself in the League Cup Final as well. So that would be nice. I'm definitely pursuing that at this minute."
It now looks as though O'Neill is following up on that by pressing ahead with a deal, with the deal now said to be close.
The Celtic Bhoys verdict
There are big questions over why Celtic waited this long to get Iheanacho back in. If O'Neill wanted him to have a pre-season, why not get him in for day one of pre-season? Why not allow him to train in Ireland and Portugal with his teammates?
That is strange, but the signing itself is an obvious win. Iheanacho showed he could help last season and showed he could adapt to Scottish football. He is sitting there without a transfer fee and Celtic need a striker. This deal does itself, and it should have from the end of last season.
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