RONNY DEILA, the Celtic manager, has revealed he is talking to a host of transfer targets and aiming to get the club's business done quickly after staging negotiations with Manchester City centre-back Dedryck Boyata.

The 24-year-old Belgian is understood to have spoken with Deila in addition to the SPFL Premiership champions' chief executive, Peter Lawwell, and assistant coach, John Collins, as the club searches to bolster its defensive options.

Jason Denayer is returning to City at the end of a successful 12-month loan arrangement and there continues to be speculation over the future of Virgil van Dijk after he admitted he would be open to the right opportunity elsewhere.

Negotiations were held between Celtic and Boyata in Manchester earlier this week with the player tipped to leave on a free transfer despite having a year left to run on his current agreement.

Deila, speaking after his side's 0-0 league draw at St Johnstone, refused to comment when asked whether it would be a loan or a permanent deal, but made it clear that he is eager to have new faces in place long before Celtic enter the Champions League qualifying stages in mid-July.

"We always want to do that, but it can be hard," said the Norwegian.

We start in late June and we would like to have added some players to the squad."

Deila has revealed that the club are now actively engaging with a host of players, but was coy when asked whether he is confident that Boyata will sign.

"We will see," he said. "I am trying to keep those conversations to myself until everything is ready.

"We are talking with a lot of players now and trying to strengthen our squad. He is one of them and we will see if we can make it."

Boyata signed a one-year contract extension in Manchester last season that took him up to the summer of 2016 and was reported to have boosted his wages from £12,000-a-week to a staggering £35,000-a-week.

Sources suggest there have been discussions over a settlement with the player that will allow him to leave on a free transfer, but City would be likely to ask for a percentage of any future transfer should he move to Celtic.

Brought into the club's academy in 2006, Boyata did begin this season by starting in the 3-0 Community Shield loss to Arsenal at Wembley Stadium and has made five appearances since. However, he had not been involved in the first-team squad for three months until making a last-minute appearance in the club's recent 1-0 league victory at Tottenham Hotspur.

Boyata certainly accepts that his time at the Etihad Stadium is up and admitted in an interview last month that he is seeking a fresh challenge.

"I am playing in a big team, but it's not good enough," he said.

"People here have seen what I can do, but I am not getting the chance every weekend, so I see myself going somewhere that I can play."

Deila was critical of his side in the wake of their goalless draw against Saints.

"It was a crazy game," he said. "It was too open for my tastes. It was a miracle it finished 0-0."

James Forrest did put the ball wide of an empty goal after rounding the home goalkeeper, Alan Mannus, with seven minutes to play, but Deila was more upset with the state of the McDiarmid Park surface.

"He is disappointed, but you can see the ball bounced up," he said.

"You could grow potatoes out there and that is how the pitch is."

Tommy Wright, the St Johnstone manager, saw his side go a point clear of Dundee United in third place thanks to the draw and was delighted with his side's display despite the fact they failed to make the most of a number of chances.

"We had 23 attempts on goal against the best team in the country, dominated large parts of it, were caught once or twice on the counter-attack and then had our goalkeeper make a great save to get us a point," he said. "I am happy."