Celtic have been one of the busiest teams in Europe early on in this summer transfer window. Of course, every year, the Hoops make a lot of signings. That aspect of it is not a surprise. What is though is how much urgency the club have shown. That is a rarity for sure in the Brendan Rodgers era. Perhaps they are keen to make an impression on the Northern Irishman manager, who has only a year left on his current deal.
In recent times, it has been a rarity for Celtic to sign players from other Scottish teams. The only two names that come to mind immediately are that of David Turnbull, who now finds himself at Cardiff City, and Luke McCowan, who joined last summer and has been a solid squad player.
Well, in an unexpected claim, Celtic have been suggested as a potential destination for a winger, if he can impress for Hearts. The issue is, he has not even played a single minute for the Scottish club so far, having agreed a pre-contract agreement with his current deal running out at the end of October.
That has not stopped the Celtic links from cropping up already. The player we are talking about is Islam Chesnokov. As reported by the Daily Record, Andrei Kanchelskis said:
"But the main advantage for Islam Chesnokov of moving to Scotland is the opportunity to be noticed by Celtic or English clubs and eventually sign for them. This is an opportunity for progress."
Celtic tipped to sign winger from Hearts out of nowhere
Chesnokov currently plays for Tobol Kostanay, with whom he has a contract until the end of October. He has a pre-contract in place with Hearts already and it is believed that the Scottish club are trying to agree a deal to bring him in this summer itself.
Chesnokov has scored 6 goals and provided 2 assists in 13 league games so far this season. That kind of form caught the attention of Hearts. Other than that, at the international level, he has also played 15 times for the Kazakhstan national team and scored two times for them.
Obviously, it is way too early to predict whether he will ever draw the attention of Celtic. Let's just say that he will have to do something pretty special, considering how rarely the Hoops have turned their attention to players already in the Scottish Premiership.