Celtic plot late Crystal Palace move - it may impact Middlesbrough | OneFootball

Celtic are pushing to sign Crystal Palace's Justin Devenny on loan, with the midfielder having previously been a target for Middlesbrough.

Chris is a freelance writer for Football League World. Graduating from Leeds Trinity University, Chris has been part of the FLW team since 2017 and has produced thousands of articles.

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Celtic are interested in signing Crystal Palace’s Justin Devenny on loan, with the versatile midfielder having previously been on Middlesbrough’s radar.

It is set to be a hectic deadline day for the Scottish champions, who are in desperate need of reinforcements in various areas of the pitch after their weak squad was exposed during their Champions League play-off defeat to LASK Linz.

Therefore, Celtic have been linked with a host of names in the past 24 hours, as they look to bring in players to help Martin O’Neill.

Celtic looking to win race to sign Crystal Palace’s Justin Devenny

And, it appears Devenny is firmly in their sights now, as journalist Alan Nixon has revealed that they have made a loan offer to sign the player.

The 22-year-old joined Palace from Airdrieonians in the summer of 2023, and he has gone on to make 60 appearances since his move, which included helping the team to the FA Cup and Europa Conference League.

However, Devenny is way down the pecking order under new boss Pierre Sage, and he wasn’t involved in the matchday squad for the opening two league games.

So, a move seems inevitable, and it had been claimed that Middlesbrough were keeping tabs on the Northern Ireland international.

But, the latest development indicates that Celtic are trying to push ahead of their rivals to sign Devenny, although it remains to be seen whether Palace are ready to let him leave on a temporary basis.

Middlesbrough will feel they have enough midfield options to sustain promotion push

Devenny looked like he would’ve been a good signing for Boro, as he has the technical ability and energy to flourish in a Kim Hellberg side.

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As well as that, he is capable of playing in so many different roles that he would be very useful to have over the course of a demanding Championship campaign.

Whilst he is primarily a midfielder, Devenny is comfortable in a more advanced role, he can play box-to-box, and he also operates in a deep position if required. Plus, he played a lot of minutes for Palace as a wing-back, so he could do a job out wide, and players like that are important.

Nevertheless, Boro have signed Rokas Pukstas to add to their midfield recently, with Sebastian Berhalter another shrewd addition, so Hellberg will feel he has enough quality to cope until January at least if the right player doesn’t come up before the deadline.

As for Devenny, he clearly needs to move for the sake of his career, and the chance to join Celtic will appeal, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if this one did happen.