Midfield is one area that Celtic might be looking to strengthen this summer. Reo Hatate picked up an injury towards the end of last season that could keep him out for a while. And even overlooking that, there were plenty of games, especially big ones like Champions League fixtures and derbies, in which the Hoops struggled to establish control in the middle of the park.
So, that is an area where Celtic should look to get better. Reports had emerged in Portugal recently which suggested that the Hoops were interested in Demir Tiknaz, on loan at Rio Ave from Besiktas.
Rio Ave are believed to hold a buyout clause at €5 million. There have been suggestions that they could look to trigger that before making Tiknaz available for transfer this summer for double that.
But as reported by CeltsAreHere, Tiknaz is not currently on the radar of the Hoops. Although the Turkish midfielder may have attracted outside attention, there has been no internal push to pursue a deal for the 20-year-old.
Major update on Celtic talks for €10m midfielder
There is no doubt that Tiknaz is a promising talent. That being said, a move for him always felt unlikely, as we had mentioned when the news had first come out as well.
It is believed that it would take a transfer fee around €10 million to sign Tiknaz. That is a significant figure for a club like Celtic. We are not going to debate whether the Turkish midfielder should have that kind of transfer valuation or not.
The issue for Celtic is that they won't need someone of his profile in the majority of their games, when the opposition will sit back and have very little of the ball. Someone of his ilk will be required against teams that are ready to take the game to the Hoops. So, it is a specialised role and not one that one would expect the club to go and splash out to fill.