Inverness have given Celtic permission to speak to Scotland under-21 starlet Ryan Christie.
The Parkhead club had an initial bid for the 20-year-old rejected on Friday but now look set to conclude a deal before tomorrow's transfer deadline.
An Inverness statement read: "As a result of a further approach from Celtic FC, and following discussions with the management team and the player, the board of Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC can confirm that Ryan Christie has been given leave to travel to Glasgow to discuss personal terms."
Inverness goalkeeper Owain Fon Williams meanwhile has said that Christie has the potential to emulate his Wales teammate Gareth Bale.
Fon Williams says that Christie reminds him of the Welsh superstar when he was in his youth.
“There should be more teams than Celtic interested," he said.
"Ryan actually reminds me a little bit of Gareth Bale when he was very young. That is not a bad compliment when you consider Gareth is the world’s most expensive footballer.
“He is something special. At training we see he is different class. I do believe there are some similarities with Gareth Bale when he was at Southampton and then he pushed on at Spurs. Who knows what will happen to Ryan Christie? Hopefully he will stay because he is a pleasure to play with and a pleasure to work with.”
The 28-year-old goalkeeper believes Christie has the talent required to play at the highest level and said: “With the right work and the right people around him why can’t he?
“Gareth Bale started off at Southampton and worked his way to the very top. It is about developing physically and learning about the game. Ryan is a youngster. He will learn a lot in the coming years and hopefully develop into some player.”
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