Celtic have made tentative contact over signing a £10,000-a-week defender this summer, according to reports.
Celtic transfer rumours
The Hoops and Brendan Rodgers are currently involved in a dramatic Scottish Premiership title race with rivals Rangers, but it appears as if Parkhead chiefs are assessing their summer transfer options.
Celtic battling Premier League clubs for international attacker
He’s scored 27 goals this season.
The club were active in both windows during the current 2023/24 campaign, however, Rodgers admitted back in February that his side could have been “braver” with the type of player they are targeting.
“I would go with supporters thinking we could maybe be a little bit braver in terms of bringing in another level of player. But that’s up to me to try and fix that over the course of my time here.
“You look at the strategy here and you have to be careful because in some ways it has worked. You bring in players for a minimal fee and then they go out and make the club a lot of money.
“What I want to hopefully balance in my time here is that we can still do that because it is an important part of the modern game. But we also want to be brave enough to hang our hat on a ready-made player.”
This summer, the club reportedly want a new goalkeeper, winger, and striker at the bare minimum, with Joe Hart retiring in the coming months. Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher appears to be the top target at the back, and by the looks of things, Celtic are also looking in England at a new defender.
There have been recent rumors regarding Celtic and a move to sign Queens Park Rangers defender Jake Clarke-Salter.
Football Scotland reporter Mark Hendry has now confirmed that Celtic’s ‘recruitment staff have made tentative contact over the player to sound out the key information such as fee, desire, and expectations’.
Clarke-Salter, on £10,000-a-week, is an out-and-out centre-back who has plied the majority of his career in England alongside a loan spell in the Netherlands with Vitesse.
The 26-year-old came through the ranks at Chelsea and had a number of loan spells away from Stamford Bridge before signing for QPR in a free transfer back in 2022.
Since then, the defender, called “outstanding” by former manager Mark Robins, has made more appearances for his current employer than any other club.
Jake Clarke-Salter appearances by club
QPR
45
Vitesse
37
Birmingham City
34
Coventry City
31
Bristol Rovers
13
Sunderland
11
Chelsea
2
He’s under contract until 2026, though, so it looks as if Celtic may have to pay a reasonable fee for the player. They’ve had similar success when signing a centre-back who had been loaned out to various sides in Cameron Carter-Vickers, so a move for Clarke-Salter may well be one to keep an eye on.
