Celtic relaunch Peter Vindahl Jensen transfer bid as hardline Sparta Prague hurdle emerges in goalkeeper hunt
The goalkeeper is one of the top targets at Parkhead this summer as the Scottish champions look to replace Joe Hart.
Celtic will make another move to land Sparta Prague No. 1 Peter Vindahl Jensen.
The Danish keeper is amongst the Hoops’ top summer targets. They have been trying to strike a deal for several weeks but his Czech side are reluctant to sell and would want a fee in excess of £8million. Celtic still believe a deal can be done to land the 26-year-old and will make another push. The Scottish champions have a shortlist of keepers and Vindahl Jensen is right at the top of it.
Vindahl Jensen is also desperate to break into the Danish national team and to play in the English Premier League. The player knows moving to Scotland could have him achieve on both those fronts. Celtic’s biggest obstacle is Sparta Prague. They don’t want to sell and they want to keep Vindahl Jensen for their own Champions League assault.
Sparta only signed the keeper on a permanent basis this summer after taking up the option after initially taking him on loan from AZ Alkmaar. Celtic have been doing their homework on goalkeepers since Joe Hart announced he was retiring in the summer.
They currently have Scott Bain and Benjamin Siegrist on their books but neither are seen as being the main man between the sticks next season. The Spanish press linked Celtic with Horatiu Moldovan of Atletico Madrid but the Romanian is not on their wanted list.
Celtic are also looking to seal the permanent signing of striker Adam Idah from Norwich City. A deal on that front is edging closer. They had hoped to off-set that by selling Hyena-gyu Oh to Genk. The Belgian side had an initial £3.5 million bid rejected but haven’t followed up with another offer for the South Korean striker yet.
Celtic want to add another central defender and have made an approach to Burnley over their Republic of Ireland international Dara O’Shea. Rodgers also wants a left back and will also want one, if not possibly two central midfielders.
Celtic remain in talks with Benfica over a deal for Paulo Bernardo but his wage remains an issue. There is also strong interest in Matt O’Riley from Southampton while Atletico Madrid remain admirers but would need to sell before they could buy.
The situation with Atletico could change quickly though as Sevilla are in talks to land their midfielder Saul. O’Riley had been linked with Leicester City but that is unlikely because he was rarely used by manager Steve Cooper, when he was previously in charge of his England under-age squad. Youngster Bosun Lawall has been given his chance to impress Celtic in pre-season. The defender is wanted by Birmingham City and is also attracting interest from Fortuna Sittard.