Celtic are close to selling Croatian defender Jozo Simunovic to Ligue 1 side Lille after personal terms were agreed with the French club.
Football Insider report that Lille have reached personal terms with Simunovic over a potential move, but a transfer fee is yet to be agreed on by the two clubs.
Lille are in the money heading into the final month of the transfer window after Les Dogues sold star winger Nicolas Pepe to Arsenal for a reported £72m (per BBC Sport), a club-record fee for the north London club who remain interested in Celtic defender Kieran Tierney according to the Evening Standard.
Since being brought to Celtic Park by Ronny Deila from Dinamo Zagreb in 2015, Simunovic has remained a key figure for the Hoops, making 114 appearances for the Scottish giants and winning four league titles (per Transfermarkt).
However, the 25-year-old defender only managed 18 Scottish Premiership appearances last season for the Hoops (per Transfermarkt), and with the summer signing of Christopher Jullien this window, which BBC Sport report is the club’s second most expensive signing in their history, Simunovic’s time in Scotland could be coming to an end, and selling him now might be the best opportunity to do so.
Indeed, Lille’s manager Christophe Galtier has previously admitted via the Scottish Sun that he is an admirer of the Croatian defender, and with the club now sitting on over £70m following Pepe’s departure, the temptation to improve on the squad with a Champions League campaign on the horizon could be strong, and Celtic might stand to profit from it.
Celtic have already spent big on defenders this summer with the signing of Jullien, and with Lille interested in Simunovic and the player also keen on a move with personal terms already agreed, allowing the Croat to leave might be a sensible option for the Hoops.
With the Scottish Sun claiming in the aforementioned report that Celtic value the defender at £5m, Lille could well match that valuation with the mass of money they have accumulated with the sale of Pepe, and Lennon might be wise to allow the defender to walk if a bid of that region comes in for Simunovic.
Celtic fans, would you sell Simunovic this summer? Let us know!
