Martin O’Neill pushing Celtic to hijack Stoke City deal for explosive winger | OneFootball

Celtic have reportedly fallen behind in the race to sign Crystal Palace winger Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, with Martin O’Neill’s men now likely to have to hijack Stoke City’s move for the talented Eagles forward.

O’Neill has demanded new signings before the winter window shuts, with Celtic currently trying to overhaul surprise Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts in the title race.

However, when it comes to a deal for Rak-Sakyi, Palace are holding out for an £8million obligation to buy in any loan move for the 23-year-old, and it’s Stoke who currently have the edge as they weigh up making a formal approach.

Celtic actually moved to sign Rak-Sakyi on loan during last summer’s transfer window, but ended up missing out as the attacker joined Turkish outfit Caykur Rizespor instead.

However, his return to Selhurst Park this month has now led to a multi-club race for his signature, as per Football Insider, with Stoke confident of beating off fellow suitors for his signature.

The winger has a contract at Selhurst Park until 2027, but he is not in Oliver Glasner’s plans and is expected to be loaned out again, if the right terms can be agreed.

Celtic falling away in Rak-Sakyi chase

While Celtic are not going away in the race to sign Rak-Sakyi, the report adds that they remain way off of Palace’s demands for the player, which has opened the door for Stoke to reach an agreement.

Indeed, speaking about where Rak-Sakyi could eventually end up, FI‘s Pete O’Rourke said: “Yeah again he’s a player that Celtic have looked at for a while. They considered him in the summer but weren’t able to get a deal done.

“The problem for Celtic right now is they would prefer a loan with no obligation in the deal.

“Crystal Palace are insisting that if he is to go out on loan again this window, they want an obligation included in that deal of around £8million which Celtic are not willing to do.

“Stoke are the ones who are leading the race for Rak-Sakyi.

“They might be willing to take that player on loan and have an obligation as part of that deal which obviously Crystal Palace are insisting on.

“So yeah I think right now it’s probably looking more likely that he will leave Crystal Palace but obviously that obligation as part of the loan is the sticking point for the interested clubs.”