According to Scottish Daily Record, the newspaper reports that Premier League side Crystal Palace are looking to sign Celtic‘s defender Jozo Simunovic for a reported fee of around £8 million who is deem surplus to requirement under Brendan Rodgers.
The Bosnian defender is set to leave Celtic Park having fallen down the perking order behind the likes Mikael Lustig and Dedryck Boyata in Rodgers starting XI this season. The centre-back has only managed to register 9 Premiership appearances this season and looks out of favour.
Celtic’s first signing in January Marvin Compper is also a defender, and it will be difficult for Simunovic getting the required playing time in the second part of the season.
Palace and former England boss Roy Hodgson is keen on strengthening his defensive line because James Tomkins and Scott Dann do have the adequate backup in required, as as the newcomer Jairo Riedewald proved to be unreliable.
However, the Eagles will have to beat the competition from Burnley if they want to sign the 23-year-old ex-Dinamo Zagreb player. Beside Simunovic, it’s reported that Erik Sviatchenko is also on his way out after Rodgers gave him permission to find a new side to ply his trade.
In order news, The Sun claimed Everton may try to sign Moussa Dembele this January transfer window whilst also reporting Brighton and Hove Albion have been the main candidates to acquire the young Frenchman so far.
It seems that France Under-20 international’s career at Celtic Park is nearing its end, with numerous clubs approaching the club for his availability. The Toffees are the next and latest club vying for his signature.
Everton have been suffering after Romelu Lukaku’s departure last summer and despite the recent arrival of Cenk Tosun, the Goodison club boss Sam Allardyce is looking to bring another quality striker in January as Dominic Calvert-Lewin has proved to be inconsistent, while Sandro Ramirez has failed to make an impact since his move from Malaga last summer.
However, The Sun is saying Brendan Rodgers is not willing to part ways with his best player, especially because it will be very complicated for his side to find a proper replacement for Dembele.
The January transfer window has just started, and there will be a lot of speculations surrounding the future of Dembele, so we should take this two report with a pinch of salt.