Celtic are all set to formalise an 18-month loan deal for Charly Musonda as the move for the Belgian under-21 internationalist nears completion.
It is believed that a deal has been agreed in principle for the Chelsea playmaker, with Celtic fighting off interest from Spanish side Leganes and as well as Italy’s Roma as they bring the player to Glasgow.
If Musonda comes through a Celtic medical tomorrow there is a strong possibility that he will go straight into the squad for Tuesday night's game against Hearts at Celtic Park.
Musonda was an unused sub for Chelsea this afternoon as they beat Newcastle 3-0 in the FA Cup but such was the player’s rapid exit that he did not join post-match training with the rest of the squad but rather left immediately after the game.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has been a long-term admirer of Musonda who can play in midfield or as a winger and is believed to have been working on a move to bring the player to Glasgow since he took over the helm from previous manager Ronny Deila.
Rodgers has maintained throughout the window that he wanted quality above quantity and Musonda’s pedigree would suggest a player who is capable of competing at Champions League level.
A further bid is also expected to be tabled this week from Celtic for Dundee’s Jack Hendry. An initial bid of £500k has been rejected by the Dens Park club, but Celtic are expected to return before the closure of Wednesday night’s deadline.
The club are also keen to add a goalkeeper to the squad following the injury to Craig Gordon on Saturday afternoon.
There was further good news too for Celtic with Patrick Roberts set to give the Parkhead side a boost.
The winger is working towards getting game time in the forthcoming William Hill Scottish Cup tie against Partick Thistle next month, which could potentially put him in line for a place against Zenit St Petersburg in the Europa League.
Roberts has been sidelined since the end of November with a hamstring injury, a problem that came on the back of an earlier hamstring pull that had kept him in the treatment room.
However, the player has targeted the Scottish Cup tie as a marker for getting back onto the pitch which will give Celtic some relief from the injury pile-up they have at the minute.
Leigh Griffiths was added to the crocks list at the weekend after another calf injury while the club await news on the extent of Gordon’s injury. With Stuart Armstrong, Tom Rogic and Mikey Johnston all out at the minute, the news that Roberts is on his way back will be regarded as welcome respite from the mounting injury issues.
Meanwhile, Kieran Tierney is looking to atone for the December defeat to Hearts at Tynecasle. Craig Levein’s side stopped Celtic’s run of 69 games when they won 4-0 shortly before Christmas and Tierney is looking for a better performance tomorrow night.
“They have been the form team in the country so we know that we need to be on our game and go out and give a good account of ourselves,” he said. “It is a big game for us and it wasn’t an enjoyable experience to lose through in Edinburgh.
“We can hopefully look to get the win we want tomorrow night.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel