CELTIC have hit a stumbling block in their £3million pursuit of Portuguese right-back Aurelio Buta.
The deal for the Royal Antwerp Portuguese defender has stalled over wages with both clubs settling on the transfer fee which was set out by the Belgians last week, as CQN reported.
Buta has yet to agree personal terms which could see Turkish sides Galatasaray, who need defensive recruits following their 7-2 aggregate thrashing from PSV Eindhoven in their Champions League qualifier, and Fenerbahce make a move for the 24-year-old attack-minded back-four operator, according to the Daily Record.
Ange Postecoglou has already admitted the urgent requirement for a new No.2 following the January departures of Jeremie Frimpong to Bayer Leverkusen for £11.8million and Hatem Abd Elhamed to former club Hapoel Be’er Sheva for £700,000. Jonjoe Kenny was brought in on loan from Everton to cover the position, but failed to impress and returned to the Merseyside club at the end of the disappointing campaign.
Buta played for Antwerp in their shock 1-0 league loss from Kortrijk at the weekend when Faiz Selemani scored the only goal three minutes from time.
The player joined the Belgians initially on loan from Benfica in 2017 before making the move permanent a year later.
The transfer window is due to close at 11pm on August 31 and Postecoglou is determined to get new faces in as swiftly as possible and expects to announce two signings this week, one of them almost certainly 34-year-old former England keeper Joe Hart in a £1million deal from Spurs on a three-year contract.
