NADIR Ciftci is on his way to Celtic.

It would be quite astonishing, given the events of the past few days, if he ended up anywhere else.

What's more, it will be a move beneficial to both parties. Ciftci will give Celtic something they have been badly needing, while it will take a club the size of the Premiership champions to control him in the wake of the alleged biting incident which unquestionably left a scar on his season.

The Dundee United forward faces an SFA hearing on July 20 over those charges levelled at him by Dundee's Jim McAlister during the final Tayside derby of the campaign.

He could, quite conceivably, spend the first half-a-dozen games of the season or more stuck in the stand through suspension, but that should not - and will not - put Celtic off after having two bids turned down at the end of last week.

It is the right kind of club for him. Ciftci is one of those borderline players, a kind of flawed genius, if you like. When I say that the club can "control" him, I mean that he will, naturally, fall into line because of the size of the club and the degree of competition it provides him with.

He has outgrown United. When you are the top player at a club, capable of going to a higher level, you can get to the stage where you don't care what anyone is telling you. You do what you want because you are almost certainly going to play every week.

At Celtic, there will be a similar calibre of player able to take your place. If he steps out of line or bites someone, he won't be in the team. Look at the progress Leigh Griffiths made last season as an example of that. He arrived with a "bad boy" reputation and struggled to get a starting place for a period of time, but he quickly realised what was required and finished up playing every week.

Celtic is a great stage for Ciftci and they will be looking at this as a long-term signing. If he misses a few games at the start, that won't be too much of a problem because they will know they are getting a really good player.

They have struggled to get a real target man and Ciftci arrives with the added bonus of being a genuine all-rounder. He has real technical ability, can hold the ball up, has a turn of pace, a goal in him and can be mobile and run channels.

He has great body strength and can boss people about. I certainly think he has the capability to score 20 goals a season in that team and be a star.

Of course, a transfer has not been signed and sealed, but you can see the script that is playing out. Wigan Athletic agreed a fee with United, Ciftci turned it down and Celtic are just sitting in the background waiting to pounce.

Pierre van Hooijdonk, the agent involved, is an ex-Celtic man and he will be keeping the club informed of everything that is happening. The Parkhead club hold all the aces and the player holds a considerable amount of power in this situation as well.

Of course, United are likely to be reluctant to sell Ciftci to Celtic after being criticised for allowing two of their best players in Gary Mackay-Steven and Stuart Armstrong to go there at the end of the January transfer window. If Ciftci wants to go to Celtic, though, he can force United's hand.

When Rangers were seeking to sign me from Dundee United in 1999, I made a call to the manager, Paul Sturrock. Sturrock had been a father figure to me and had got my career going on a couple of occasions, having also signed me for St Johnstone, but I was upset because the club was trying to squeeze more money out of Rangers.

David Murray called me himself and warned me the deal could be off. While Sturrock was brilliant for me, I was brilliant for him, too, and I phoned him while he was out for a meal to tell him straight that the move had better not fall through.

Players work all their lives to earn a big transfer. They should have a say in where they play. Ciftci has already made it clear that he does not want to play for Wigan Athletic despite the transfer fee having been agreed with United while van Hooijdonk is stating publicly that he is "flattered" by Celtic's attention.

It strikes me that Ciftci knows fine well what he wants to do. He should be pulling on those green-and-white hoops before long.