SCOTT SINCLAIR is on the brink of quitting Celtic following just one competitive start this season.
The 30-year-old attacker, who was signed by Brendan Rodgers for £4.5million from Aston Villa in August 2016, is heading for talks with Preston boss Alex Neil.
Sinclair is out of contract in June and is allowed to speak to interested parties this month while the Deepdale club have contacted the champions for permission to open discussions.
It’s obvious the Premier League promotion-chasers, who were linked with the former Chelsea, Swansea and Manchester City star in the summer, are not prepared to wait to pick him up for free in the summer.
Stoke City have also been monitoring Sinclair’s situation, but former Hamilton Accies gaffer Neil’s club have been the first to make an official approach.
BY THE LEFT…Scott Sinclair fires in a shot against Hibs in a rare appearance as a sub in the 1-1 draw in September.
Sinclair, who is picking up something in the region of £33,000-per-week, has been frozen out this season with the emergence of Mikey Johnston and the loan arrival of Mohamed Elyounoussi from Southampton.
His solitary start was against Cluj in the Europa League Group E game in Romania last month with Neil Lennon’s men already guaranteed top place in the section. The Hoops lost 2-0.
Sinclair hit 61 goals in his first three seasons at Parkhead and has figured in all 10 successive domestic honours. He missed out in the 1-0 Betfred League Cup Final success over Steven Gerrard’s Ibrox outfit last month, but he played as a substitute – and scored only his second goal of the campaign – in the 5-0 win over Partick Thistle in an earlier round.
His other strike came in the 3-1 Champions League qualifying victory over FK Sarajevo in July.
Sheffield United, newly-promoted to the top-flight, were also reported to be willing to pay £2million for the Englishman in the summer, but, instead, splashed a club record £20million on Scotland striker Oli McBurnie from Swansea.
