Arne Engels is likely to be at the centre of Celtic's biggest transfer saga, with the midfield star already attracting fresh attention this summer. The Belgian was the subject of a big offer or two back in January, but the Bhoys held firm, well aware that losing him in January could have put paid to their title hopes.
That proved to be a wise move, with Martin O'Neill going on to lead the Hoops to a league and cup double. But interest in the 22-year-old is not going away, and there is set to be a fresh barage of approaches this summer.
Serie A giants join the party
Heading into this summer, it seems Sunderland and Nottingham Forest are the main candidates to land Engels' signature, and the former are bolstered by qualification for Europe.
Celtic would love to keep the Belgian, but given his talent and likel almbitions, they know such an outcome is unlikely. The Hoops will likely have to cash in, and it's expected there will be a fee of at least ÂŁ22million involved.
The two Premier League clubs can pay such money without much of a sweat, but there now appears to be another horse in the race. According to Tuttomercatoweb, Napoli are now expressing an interest in Engels as they contemplate having to replace the reliable Andre-Frank Anguissa.
That interest could accelerate the interest of one or both of the interested English clubs, and in the best case scenario for Celtic, some sort of bidding war could be sparked to life. The Bhoys will feel they may be able to get around ÂŁ25million for Engels if the conditions play out right, and that will be a big help in funding what will likely be a bold summer window for Martin O'Neill.
What will be interesting is to see how much of that money is reinvested in the midfield spot Engels leaves behind, and how the quality compares, given it's going to be difficult to find a player as good as Engels without spending the same amount of money.
For the interested clubs, they may well see ÂŁ25million as a steal given Engels is still only 22 and clearly developing at a quick pace. O'Neill himself described Engels as a 'remarkable' player after working with him in the season just gone, but it appears more and more likely that he will have to do without him in the coming campaign.
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