Celtic are looking to get better this summer after winning a double last season and reaching the Champions League knockout phase after more than a decade. That being said, the Hoops have plenty to be worried about as well. Brendan Rodgers' side looked flat and out of ideas in the second half of the campaign.
They also struggled in games against the Rangers. While the Ibrox club were not able to mount a challenge this season and the derby losses did not really matter for Celtic, that might not be the case in the future.
Many believe that Celtic need to bring in a presence in midfield to control games against big teams. And it looks like a Turkish midfielder is now on their radar out of nowhere.
As reported by A Bola, Celtic have already initiated initial contacts with Rio Ave to try to understand how they can move forward with a concrete proposal for Demir Tiknaz, but the Portuguese club's directors will only look into the matter after signing the player from Besiktas permanently. He is on loan and there is a €5m buyout clause.
Celtic open talks to sign €10m player out of nowhere
It is believed that Rio Ave will want a €10 million transfer fee to part ways with Tiknaz this summer. It remains to be seen if Celtic make that sort of an offer for a player with not much top-level experience.
That being said, Celtic did break the club's transfer record to sign Arne Engels from FC Augsburg last summer. This would be a very similar type of deal, in terms of age profile and transfer fee.
There is no doubt that Tiknaz is a physical presence in the middle of the park, a profile that Celtic are missing right now. He is also knocking on the Turkish national team's door. That being said, is he someone who the Hoops will require every matchday? Probably not. So, one has to wonder if the club will go out and spend that sort of transfer fee for a player with a specialised role in the squad.