‘Celtic Remain Persistent’ – Bhoys Not Giving Up On Landing Star | OneFootball

Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

‘Celtic remain persistent’ in their desire to bring in Torino midfielder Gvidas Gineitis, despite having had a bid rejected.

The Bhoys appear to be giving major consideration to life without Arne Engels, who is being seriously pursued by West Ham United.

It has been suggested that West Ham are not too far off Celtic’s valuation of Engels, though there is the possibility other clubs could swoop in, with the Belgian having been a big target for Nottingham Forest.

Celtic have been looking towards Serie A for a midfielder and like Torino’s Gineitis

Torino have slapped a €15m price tag on the Lithuanian’s head, which is double the €7.5m offer that Celtic have already seen refused.

However, according to Italian daily Tuttosport (via La Lazio Siamo Noi), ‘Celtic remain persistent’ in their pursuit of the midfielder.

Celtic could soon increase their offer for Gineitis up to the €10m mark to test Torino’s resolve.

Torino are eyeing selling Gineitis to give their finances a big boost this summer and will want to drive up the fee as close to their asking price as possible.

Celtic’s €7.5m bid was made around 20 days ago and the Bhoys have been working on other deals, notably the big money capture of Danish attacker Kasper Hogh.

The Scottish champions are having to deal with interest not just in Engels, but also Kieran Tierney and Alistair Johnston.

Left-back Tierney is drawing interest from Spanish La Liga club Osasuna, with their sporting director making enquiries.

And Everton are in talks with Celtic in a bid to sign Canada international full-back Johnston.

The timing is less than ideal for the Bhoys as they prepare for their Scottish Premiership opener.

Martin O’Neill will want some degree of a settled squad when Celtic enter the Champions League playoff round to try to navigate a path to the league phase.