CELTIC have identified Iceland striker Alfred Finnbogason as the player they want to replace Gary Hooper, with Kevin Doyle ranked as the back-up option.
An offer is about to submitted to the 24-year-old's Dutch club Heerenveen, who have been holding out for around £3.5 million, and Neil Lennon hopes to have him aboard within the next 48 hours.
The squad for the play-off round of the Champions League must be registered with Uefa by 11pm tomorrow, but one addition can be made up to 24 hours before the first leg of their qualifier against Shakhter Karagandy, scheduled for a week on Tuesday.
However, with Finnbogason scheduled to play for Iceland against the Faroe Islands in Reykjavik on Wednesday and Celtic due to travel to Aberdeen on Friday to play at Pittodrie at lunchtime the following day before flying to Kazakhstan on Sunday, there is an obvious need to complete the deal as quickly as possible.
Finnbogason scored in stoppage time last night as Heerenveen won 2-0 away to NAC in the Dutch league.
Meanwhile, Lennon watched Amido Balde score the only goal of the game to give Celtic victory over a very strong Liverpool team in Dublin. However, the Portuguese striker has yet to start a European match for the club he joined from Vitoria Guimaraes in June.
Lennon does not want to go into the play-off games without adding to his strikeforce after seeing his side fail to make any impression against Elfsborg in Sweden in midweek.
Finnbogason ticks all the boxes for Lennon. He has scored 26 goals for Heerenveen last season and is already off the mark in this campaign. He has also scored four goals in 15 games for Iceland.
Doyle remains on the back-up list in case the Finnbogason bid flounders, but the price to bring him in would have to come down from the £1.5m Wolves want.
The 28-year-old Republic of Ireland international, who is under contract for another two years at Molineux, would also have to accept a significant reduction in the £40,000-per-week wage he currently receives. Doyle failed to find the net during the hour he was on the field yesterday as Wolves defeated Gillingham 4-0 in English League One.
Lennon's scouting team have also identified other possible targets, but Finnbogason has emerged as the striker the manager wants. Heerenveen need to sell as they wrestle with financial problems, and Finnbogason is their most valuable asset.
However, that means they need to maximise the fee they receive for him and interim director Gaston Sporre has said that while the club's difficult financial situation may mean they will cash in on their prized asset, he did not feel that just any bid for Finnbogason would be accepted.
Lennon is also in the market for at least one defender, but reports emanating from Italy indicate any interest Celtic had in Pescara's Marco Capuano has fallen on stony ground. The club relegated from Serie A claim to have turned down an offer of £1.7m for the Italy under-21 international.
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