Celtic are ‘hopeful’ that they can see off Premier League competition for the permanent signing of Cameron Carter-Vickers from Tottenham Hotspur, according to transfer insider Dean Jones.
The lowdown
The centre-back is currently on a season-long loan at Celtic from the north London club.
It emerged in January that the Hoops had already commenced negotiations with the Lilywhites over the structure of a deal. A prospective fee of around £10m was already agreed as part of the loan transfer.
However, Carter-Vickers has reportedly attracted interest from a number of clubs south of border, including Premier League quintet Leicester City, West Ham United, Wolves, Burnley and Watford.
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The latest
Jones has said that Celtic’s mission was to convince Carter-Vickers that Parkhead ‘is the place to be’, and if they have managed to do that, they should then have a clear run at signing the 24-year-old permanently.
The journalist told GiveMeSport: “I think that they are hopeful they can get him permanently. That was part of the feeling when they got him in; let’s just convince him that this is the place to be, and I think that it has gone a long way.”
The verdict
If Celtic trigger that £10m option, they will break their transfer record, which currently stands at the £9.27m that they paid to sign Odsonne Edouard from Paris Saint-Germain in 2018.
Is Carter-Vickers worth an eight-figure sum? Ange Postecoglou clearly values him highly, starting him at every opportunity in the Premiership.
The 24-year-old, who ranks in Celtic’s top three for clearances, aerial duels won, interceptions and accurate long passes per 90 minutes, has averaged a WhoScored rating of 7.32 out of 10 this season.
In addition, team-mate Greg Taylor has called his performances ‘outstanding’ and hailed him as a ‘huge’ figure at the club, so there certainly seems to be plenty of signs pointing towards the Hoops nailing a permanent deal for the American loanee.
In other news, this Celtic record-breaker has been told to find a new club
