CELTIC are poised to step up their interest in £7.5million-rated French striker Thomas Henry.
Ange Postecoglou is looking to add to the club’s firepower with Odsonne Edouard in the last year of his contract and heading for the Parkhead exit.
The Hoops boss has been keeping tabs on the 6ft 4in frontman who has claimed an impressive 41 goals in 71 appearances for Belgian top-flight outfit OH Leuven.
Henry, 26, was a target for English second tier Swansea last month, but their £6million bid was rejected and they have yet to return with an enhanced offer, according to a report in the Daily Record.
NUMBER ONE…Kyogo Furuhashi nets the first of his hat-trick in the six-goal romp against Dundee.
Postecoglou has brought in five major signings in recent weeks with Liel Abada, Carl Starfelt, Kyogo Furuhashi, Joe Hart and James McCarthy arriving in deals totalling around £13.6million. Sheffield Wednesday prospects Osaze Urhoghide and Liam Shaw were also snapped up at the end of their contracts with the Hillsborough club.
The Parkhead side have already brought in over £20million in sales since April when Patryk Klimala joined MLS side New York Red Bulls for £3.5million and Kristoffer Ajer departed in exchange for £13.5million to Brentford last month. There have also been fees for Jack Hendry, Vakkoun Issouf Bayo and Marian Shved who have all moved to Belgian football.
Olivier Ntcham has been removed from the wage bill and his fellow-countryman Edouard looks to be on the move with Brighton now favourites to land last season’s top scorer who has had a low-key start to the new campaign, scoring his first goal with a late penalty-kick in the 6-0 win over Dundee on Sunday.
The Hoops hierarchy have promised Postecoglou cash to reinvest in his squad and the manager is on record as saying he is hoping for another two recruits by the end of the week.
AU REVOIR? Odsonne Edouard looks thoughtful on Sunday.
Edouard, rated in the £20million bracket by Celtic, has also been linked with Jose Mourinho’s Roma, but that possible move appears to have been scuppered with news the Serie A outfit have agreed a £34million deal for Chelsea hitman Tammy Abrahams, as reported in Sky Sports Italy
Brighton boss Graham Potter has just raked in £50million with the move of England international central defender Ben White to Arsenal. He said: “The finances involved meant it was a really good option for us as a club to improve, to keep growing and we need to then use the money wisely to develop the team further.”
The English top flight kicks off this weekend and there is likely to be a frenzy of transfer activity over the next few days.
Edouard, meanwhile, could miss the Europa League qualifier return with Jablonec at Parkhead on Thursday night. Bizarrely, after playing 23 minutes against the Dens Park club, the Frenchman received an injury after the match in the warm down.
The Hoops, 4-2 ahead from the first outing in the Czech Republic last week, will again have Japanese attacker Kyogo leading the line following his scintillating hat-trick at the weekend.
The transfer window will close at 11pm on Tuesday, August 31.
