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.
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