NEIL LENNON has stepped up his bid to bring “quality” additions to his squad – and the Celtic boss expects arrivals within the next few days.
The Hoops gaffer is now going into overdrive as he continues his squad rebuild following last night’s 2-1 win over FK Sarajevo for a 5-2 victory to set up a Champions League second qualifier against Estonia.s Kalju with the first leg at Parkhead on Wednesday.
Hapoel Be’er Sheva right-back Hatem Abd Elhamed should be in place within the next 48 hours with the Israeli press already insisting it is a done deal at around the £2million mark.
Thirty-two-year-old Danny Simpson, a free agent after being released by Leicester City, will also be given his chance to impress Lennon in an effort to win a move to the eight-in-a-row champions.
Kristoffer Ajer has started in the No.2 position in the Euro ties against the Bosnians with Scotland Under-21 star Anthony Ralston on the subs’ bench.
The Hoops desperately need cover following the summer exits of Mikael Lustig, Cristian Gamboa and Jeremy Toljan.
Lennon, speaking to the Daily Record, said: “I think we’ll have something in the next few days hopefully. It might be a right-back, it might be a left-winger, it might be a centre-forward.
“Right-back is a priority, but we have a number of positions I’d like to strengthen like midfield and one or two attacking areas.
“You don’t want to overcook it, either, but we want to add to the quality in the squad that we already have.
“The boys are doing a brilliant job at the minute, but they could do with a little bit of help in terms of strength in depth.”
The deal for 28-eight-year-old Elhamed is heading for Parkhead and newspaper SportsWalla reported a
fee has been agreed and the there will be a £250,000 add-on should the Parkhead men reach the Champions League group stages.
The experienced defender has previously played abroad twice before when he had a loan spell at Dinamo Bucharest and then a failed move to Belgium where he played just once for Gent.
He returned to Israel with Ashdod before joining Be’er Sheva and his performances there have earned him one cap for Israel, where he replaced Nir Bitton.
