CELTIC defender Cristian Gamboa is out of his side’s Champions League qualifiers after being called into Costa Rica’s Gold Cup squad.
Stand-in left-back Emilio Izaguirre, though, will be available after being rested for the Honduras squad for the USA-based tournament.
The two Central American nations will face each other in Texas next month, as well as taking on French Guiana and Canada later in the competition.
But it means 27-year-old Gamboa, bought last summer for £1.2million from West Brom, will miss the second qualifying round and could also sit out the third round games if his nation progress in the tournament.
The attacking right-back has made 52 appearances for Oscar Ramirez’s side and is regarded as a key player.
Summer Transfers Betting
On July 1st, the 2017-2018 summer transfer window begins. Clubs all over Europe will use the summer transfer window to strengthen their squads for the upcoming season, and hopefully Celtic will be one of the main players.
Celtic’s 2016-2017 season saw the club reach the Champions League group stages and although they suffered a heavy defeat in Barcelona generally performed reasonably well in what was a horribly difficult group.
Domestically, Celtic reaffirmed their status as the club to beat by swooping every trophy available, but continentally they showed that there are still some way off challenging some of the best clubs in European football .
In order, to maintain their hegemony domestically and to improve their showing next season in the European elite club competition, serious deals showing their intent will need to be completed during this summer transfer window.
A look at trending rumours and gossip suggests many deals are already in the pipeline. For punters looking to maximise their profits through these rumours, here is a guide to quickly compare odds for Celtic’s summer transfer business.
However the biggest transfer news around Celtic this summer involves players staying rather than potential arrivals.
Celtic uncovered a gem in Moussa Dembele, a prolific forward who netted 32 times in his debut season with the club. His exploits have caught the eyes of some of the world’s top football scouts and managers among them Mauricio Pochetino of Tottenham Hotspurs and Antonio Conte of Chelsea. Current favourites for Moussa Dembele, according to SkyBet, is Chelsea with 13/8 odds, while Tottenham is not far behind if he decides to leave the Scottish giants with 5/1 odds. Other suitors in the background include Arsenal on 25/1 and Real Madrid on 40/1 according to Paddy Power. As per the Paddy Power bookmaker and reassuringly for Celtic supporters, Moussa Dembele is 11/10 to stay at Celtic.
Another player linked with a move away from Celtic Park is Kieran Tierney. The world-class full-back is on the radar of many clubs, particularly those from the English Premier League Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspurs, Chelsea and Arsenal including Germany giants Bayern Munich.
With the future of Luke Shaw at Manchester United looking bleak and Danny Rose at Tottenham pondering a switch to the moneybags Manchester City, both clubs are in the market for a top-quality full-back.
In Germany, Philip Lam played his last game in the Bundesliga last season thus there is a vacant full-back position. SkyBet tips Tierney to sign for Manchester United with 13/9 odds, while Paddy Power tips the same destination with 20/21 odds. Outsiders Arsenal are at 11/2 odds to sign Tierney according to SkyBet, though Paddy Power has them on 25/1 odds to sign Celtic’s very special versatile defender. The safe money though is also on Tierney staying exactly where he is at Celtic.
In terms of potential arrivals, Celtic has been linked with Jean-Kevin Duverne, a highly rated French under 21 versatile defender, equally comfortable as a centre back or as a left back. Jean-Kevin Duverne played 37 times for Lens in the French Ligue 1, establishing himself as one of France’s latest hot prospects. Online bookmakers have different opinions as to Celtic’s decision with the 19 year old mainly due to his net value of £4.8 million. According to Ladbrokes, Celtic is at 11/10 odds to sign the defender, while Paddy Power has 11/9 odds on for Duverne joining Celtic.
Celtic’s season will start a bit early this season due to their Champions League commitments. Celtic will play Linfield or La Fiorita around 12th July. Going into this fixture, Celtic are the favourites to progress to the group stages of the Champions League. Paddy Power tips the Hoops to progress with 1/7 odds for a Celtic win. In the qualifying for the next round market, Paddy Power does not expect any upset of any kind with 1/50 odds on Celtic qualification!
Also on CQN today…
‘CELTIC TOO BIG FOR QUALIFIERS,’ INSISTS XAVI
“Rangers, as in the past Rangers, don’t exist.”
Paul Gallagher on ‘A Celtic State of Mind’.https://t.co/GcqBRsupLY pic.twitter.com/5aDRlizigw— Paul John Dykes ⭐️ (@PaulDykes) June 17, 2017
