Celtic have been told they cannot afford to lose one of their key stars this summer. The Bhoys have already had a disappointing transfer window, at least up to now, and with not enough talent brought into the club, a number of the club's most talented players are expected to leave.
Daizen Maeda has left for Ipswich Town on a £10million deal, while Arne Engels is expected to depart on a £25million deal, and Reo Hatate is also expected to go.
This week, it emerged that Everton were expressing interest in star defender Alistair Johnston, with Martin O'Neill confirming the interest.
But former Celtic forward Chris Sutton believes the club simply can't afford to lose Johnston, whose departure will be a bridge too far this summer.
Celtic cannot afford to lose Johnston
Speaking to the Daily Record, Sutton said: “Alistair Johnston was huge for Celtic in the run-in last season.
“Everton have made a move, but Celtic simply can’t afford to lose him right now. I got some flak for saying they should have held off selling Daizen Maeda until after the Champions League play-off, but I stick by it. The same goes for Johnston. He’s a massive player on the pitch and a leader in the dressing room. The Premier League doesn’t kick off until August 22, which is after the play-off first leg.”
“Celtic shouldn’t be answering the phone until after then, because how the heck would you replace someone like Johnston for the biggest game of the season? You can’t. We saw last season when Celtic drafted in Julian Araujo from Bournemouth. That was a player who was on EPL money and had played at a high level – but he was still short of the standards set by Johnston.”
O'Neill on Johnston interest
Speaking about the interest in his pre-match press conference, O'Neill said: "Everton have been in contact. I'm not sure whether there's been a bid in there for that one, but they've been in contact saying that there would be. In fairness, David Moyes did call me last week to say there would be contact."
He added on Maeda's departure.: "I felt that something would happen with some of our top players.
I was hoping as each day went past that there wouldn't be any serious interest. But that was never going to happen.
"But we need players in anyway. And we're on the hunt for that. We're getting close. I don't know how close is close, but we are definitely getting close."
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