European club considering Celtic offer for star player – report

Celtic’s move for Luis Palma looks like it could be a good one after a fresh report from Greece.

Celtic fans may only just be hearing about Palma, a winger currently playing for Super League side Aris Thessaloniki.

We told you about the club’s move to sign the player earlier on Thursday. Not a great deal of information was shared about the 23-year-old in the Daily Mail‘s original report but a £3.5m move was mentioned.

Now, there has been a further report from Europe through Athens based reporter Giannis Chorianopoulos.

The journalist is likely to be a familiar name to you, having offered updates on the likes of Giorgos Giakoumakis and Vasilis Barkas in recent times.

Now he has delivered some good news concerning Palma.

Chorianopoulos tweeted early on Thursday morning to say: “Aris Thessaloniki are considering seriously Celtic’s €4.1m offer for Luis Palma. It is an offer close to their demands.” (Giannis Chorianopoulos on Twitter)

So we have indeed bid around £3.5m, and that is “close” to what Aris want for their goalscoring talent. On that, Palma netted 11 goals in 29 league appearances last season, making him one of the top scorers in Greece.

On the face of it, the reports seem to be in keeping with the kind of business Celtic have done in recent times.

We often don’t hear about players until relatively late in the day. Then soon after it’s news of a bid being accepted and, before you know it, we’ve got a new signing being paraded at Celtic Park.

Time will tell whether things play out that way with Palma. There’s still a way to go. But we’ve found out in recent times that Celtic transfers can be completed relatively quickly.

Maik Nawrocki and Gustaf Lagerbielke were signed within about a week of us first hearing about them. It could be a similar situation with Palma.

We’ll keep you updated whatever way this one goes.

Jota Fenerbahce transfer sought as Celtic hero rejoins Ittihad training

Jota is reportedly on the radar of Fenerbahce for a second summer switch – as he re-joined his Al-Ittihad teammates in training.

The Celtic hero has been told – just over a month after he joined in a £25million switch – that he may be on the exit list with the club pushing their eight foreign players rule. They also hold an interest in Liverpool’s Mo Salah which would push Jota further down the pecking order.

The former Hoops winger was close to an Al-Shabab loan while manager Nuno Espirito Santo contemplated keeping him around but it has now emerged that fans and club chiefs are willing to see the player depart.

Turkish giants Fenerbahce, according to sporx.com, are planning an “operation” to bring the tricky wideman to their club where he would link up with ex-Rangers attacker Ryan Kent.

Italian outfit Atalanta as well as Al-Ettifaq, managed by Steven Gerrard, have both also been linked.

It comes as another outlet, Arriyadiyah, claims Jota has returned to training before his side’s fixture against Al-Riyadh. But that manager Nuno does not plan to start him and instead simply wants him available should he decide to “rotate”.