All eyes on Murrayfield tonight, as managers from around the Premier League hope that Celtic exit Europe.
Football is a cruel business. Get injured, you’re not going to get a new deal. Lose your pace? You’re going to be slipping down the divisions. Club gets relegated? You’re going to lose all your best players.
A different, but equally cruel reality, is staring Celtic fans in the face tonight. Ronny Delia’s side are 4-1 down after the first leg of their Champions League qualifier against Legia Warsaw and while we wouldn’t rule out a miracle tonight, it looks unlikely. If Celtic do bow out, not only will their fans face a long season with no glamourous Champions League ties, they will also be facing into the season shorn of their best players.
Today’s papers are full of clubs hovering over Celtic’s top men like a bunch of well dressed vultures. Top of the list is keeper Fraser Forster, who is set to move to Southampton for £8million if Celtic exit, according to the Mirror.
Also on the shopping list of a Premier League club is Virgil van Dijk, who the Sun say is off to Swansea for £6m, once Chico Flores does one.
Add this to reports that Kris Commons could be West Brom bound and it makes for grim reading for Celtic supporters. Let’s hope they can turn it around tonight, and send the vultures packing.
Away from Celtic, the news is mainly focussed on Arsenal and Manchester United. With Arsene Wenger all but confirming that Thomas Vermaelen is for sale, the Belgian has been linked with a move to Old Trafford repeatedly.
However today’s Daily Mail say that Barcelona fancy nabbing the out-of-favour left footer for £10m, a move we’re sure Wenger would prefer to selling to a direct rival.
With a vacancy popping up in defence, Wenger is looking to shore that up by taking Daniel Agger off Liverpool’s hands, according to the Star.
Going from one tattooed scary man to another, Arturo Vidal again pops up in today’s rumours. The Juve man has been linked with Manchester United for months now, without any real evidence to support such a move. The latest, in all the papers, is that Louis van Gaal is down on the Chilean as he has concerns over his knee injury. We hope that is the end of the matter, but we doubt it is.
Finally, in news that will delight fans of good beards and Liverpool, the Express say that Real Madrid are prepared to let Xabi Alonso go. That’s the sort of rumour that can drive a fan wild, so we really hope it is true…
