Celtic reportedly make offer for French midfielder

Celtic might need to sign another midfielder this summer. The club have already brought in Paulo Bernardo on a permanent deal after a solid loan spell from Benfica last season. But with the amount of interest in the signature of Matt O'Riley and clubs reportedly willing to break the Scottish transfer record for him, it would be a surprise if he is at Parkhead beyond August.

Of course, O'Riley is one of the best players at Celtic, if not the very best. So, the club will need to find a replacement for him immediately, if he was to leave.

Judging from the transfer rumours, it feels like they are targeting a talented youngster with room for development rather than someone who can come in and immediately replace O'Riley's output. They have been most heavily linked with Mateusz Bogusz of LAFC and Arne Engels of FC Augsburg in this regard over the last few weeks.

Another name now seems to be in the frame to replace O'Riley at Parkhead though. As tweeted by Nabil Djellit, Mahamadou Diawara has an offer from Celtic. Other clubs are also interested in the 19-year-old midfielder including Nantes and Lens.

Celtic reportedly make offer for French midfielder

Diawara came through the academy ranks at PSG but never made a senior appearance for the club before moving to Lyon last summer. There, the midfielder has played about a dozen games but is not a regular contributor by any means.

It remains to be seen if Diawara is on the move once again this summer. Celtic appear to hold a serious interest in signing the midfielder.

In no world would he be considered a like-for-like replacement for O'Riley in terms of output. Let's see how the situation materialises and whether the race to sign Diawara from Lyon leads anywhere of substance.