Forward ‘needs to play’ and Celtic can swoop in for signing

The Spanish media continue to sound confident about Celtic’s chances of signing Ivan Šaponjić.

Moving to Atletico Madrid last summer from Benfica, he’s struggled to find any sort of role with Diego Simeone’s side. That’s perhaps not a surprise given he hadn’t broken through in Lisbon either.

Something of a punt signing, with the fee believed to have been around €500k, Šaponjić will now be allowed to leave the Spanish side. AS reports he’s actively looking for a new club, knowing that he ‘needs to play’ at this stage of his career.

Celtic interest is covered again, and it seems a case of Neil Lennon’s side needing to decide if they truly want the player, and then going for the signing. There’s no mention of interest from anywhere else, so this looks like a clear route for now.

Transfermarket value the forward at just over £1m, and this wouldn’t be an expensive signing for Celtic.