Everyone is aware that Celtic are facing a tough time in keeping hold of Kieran Tierney this summer. However, the Hoops can now face another problem as Lille are said to be preparing a better bid for Celtic’s centre back Jozo Simunovic.
Report from the Daily Record mentions that the Scottish giants ignored the first bid of £4m for the Croatian centre half. However, the French side are now boosted with the sale of Nicolas Pepe to Arsenal, which has brought them financial muscle to get their targets.
The interest from Lille for the Croatian is as real as it can get as the club’s coach Christophe Galtier confirmed that the defender is on their radar and the Ligue 1 side are keen to land him. Celtic though have made it clear that they are not actively looking to sell the defender, but a top offer could change their mind.
Why does Celtic need to keep hold of Simunovic?
The Croatian defender has slowly managed to establish himself in the starting eleven in the past year or so. Simunovic was earlier slated for his poor judgements after he was signed from Dinamo Zagreb for £4m. However, he has come a long way in the last two seasons.
The Hoops lost the services of Dedryck Boyata this summer as the Belgian left after his contract had expired. Filip Benkovic also moved away after his loan spell ended. Jack Hendry has struggled, and he is likely to remain on the fringes of the squad. The club paid big money to land Christopher Jullien this summer, and a lot will rest on him and Kristoffer Ajer. With so many competitions to play in, Celtic would ideally like to keep hold of Simunovic.
What kind of figure should Lennon demand?
Anything in the double figures should pique Celtic’s interest. Lennon should keep the price tag of £10-12m for the defender. We still have a month left before the Scottish transfer window shuts down. Therefore Celtic should be able to bring in a decent replacement for Simunovic with that kind of money in hand.
However, we have seen the Bhoys have found it hard to get some deals done this summer, and they are yet to solve their right-back woes. Therefore it is clear that even with money and time in hand, finding replacements isn’t easy. As we said, in an ideal world, Celtic should look to keep hold of Simunovic at all cost. But everyone has a price in today’s market, and Lille have certainly got that power to pay for him.
