Celtic and Rangers are in the picture to sign Köln’s Denis Huseinbašić, according to Bild, who state the teams respectively managed by Ange Postecoglou and Michael Beale would be looking to bring him to Celtic Park and Ibrox respectively in the summer.
Köln paid €50,000 to Kickers Offenbach for the midfielder last summer and his valuation has since increased to €5m in less than a season.
The 21-year-old’s ‘extraordinary’ rise from the lower division side to the Bundesliga club has not gone unnoticed in Scotland, England and France, but only Celtic and Rangers are mentioned in the report as these two sides ‘want’ him.
Huseinbašić’s fine form has also seen him play for Germany U21s. He’s represented by a family friend, but the report states other agents want to lure the player desired by Celtic and the Ibrox club.
Due to the limited game time at Köln, top agents sense the chance to convince the player to seal a move abroad in the next window.
These unnamed representatives are ‘trying to turn his head’ and this could be received as an encouragement for Postecoglou and Beale in their teams’ pursuit of the German.
Köln manager Steffen Baumgart has urged the Celtic and Rangers target to continue at the club beyond this season.
Despite this, the report states have to ‘worry about losing their top talent’ in the summer since Celtic, Rangers and other clubs are lurking.
The German side hope Huseinbašić will ‘resist the poaching attempts’ from agents to tempt him make a move elsewhere.
Celtic and Rangers, who want Huseinbašić, could closely keep an eye on his situation.
It could be one of the two battles Postecoglou’s side and the Ibrox club will fight for in the coming weeks.
The other is the Scottish Cup semi-final clash between Celtic and Rangers on April 30th.
