Unsurprisingly, Celtic have been linked with a lot of players heading into the summer transfer window. Some of them are fresh names on the Hoops' radar. Others are ones that they have been eyeing for quite some time. Could we see Brendan Rodgers' side revisit their interest in a 24-year-old striker despite seeing a rumoured £7 million offer rejected in the winter?
Celtic needed to find a replacement for Kyogo Furuhashi, after the Japanese international left for Rennes in the winter in hopes of boosting his World Cup chances. But the Hoops were not able to bring in someone to take his place in the squad.
One of the players they had tried to sign was David Strelec. In fact, if rumours are accurate than a transfer bid was even made, and then turned down by his club.
It is believed that Strelec was not happy after seeing a January exit blocked. He ended up scoring a hattrick to win Slovan Bratislava the Slovakian title and has now opened the door to an exit in the summer.
Celtic offered chance to sign 24-year-old after £7m bid rejected
As reported by The National, Strelec said after scoring his hattrick:
"Everything is open in the summer.
"I'm happy here, I'm at home here. It's always been my dream to play for Slovan.
"But I won't deny something could happen. We'll see how the communication with the club goes."
Let's see what the future holds for Strelec. Someone like him could prove to be a solid signing for Celtic, who are still light on options up top.
There is a good possibility that Daizen Maeda might need to move back to the wing role moving forward due to Jota's long-term injury. As a result, the Hoops could end up needing some genuine competition for Adam Idah, who has been hot and cold throughout the season. Strelec could be that man.
According to stats from Transfermarkt, Strelec has scored 22 goals and provided 8 assists in 44 appearances for Slovan Bratislava across all competitions this season. That includes three goals in Champions League qualifying and two more in the main phase of the competition, including one against Atletico Madrid.
In the winter, it was believed that Slovan Bratislava wanted a £10 million transfer fee to part ways with Strelec. But one would imagine that that figure has gone down since then, owing to his desire to seek a new challenge elsewhere.