Contacts over Celtic defender transfer have ‘accelerated in the past few hours’

Earlier today we covered some claims from Mundo Deportivo about Villarreal interest in Dedryck Boyata.

The day before it had been Valencia supposedly interest in the Celtic player, but now they have La Liga competition.

Marca backs the claims up and reports that contacts have ‘accelerated in the past few hours’.

The Spanish newspaper doesn’t make it especially clear who those contacts are with, but given they explain how keen Boyata is to leave Scottish football and try his luck in a bigger league, it would be assumed to be the player’s representatives.

Both Marca and Mundo Deportivo have reported that Villarreal will only make the move if they sell Victor Ruiz to Zenit.

Villarreal’s local media have their own take on that, and El Periodico Mediterraneo believe that talks are currently ongoing. Zenit’s first offer, €10m, was knocked back, but the club are under some pressure because Ruiz’s contract expires next summer… the same as Celtic’s situation with Boyata.

It’s reiterated that the Spanish club would certainly have to recruit if they lose Ruiz, given they’re short in defence. Another issue is that one summer signing, Ramiro Funes Mori, hasn’t managed to impress at the club yet.