Emmanuel Merceron has followed up on his news of Celtic being linked with Quentin Merlin by quoting the Daily Mail and adding that there is strong interest.
Merceron is a keen fan of Nantes with 15,000 Twitter followers while only following 343 accounts.
Merlin is a 21-year-old left back has two seasons of Ligue 1 experience behind him and is under contract until 2026.
Merceron has absolutely no need to tweet about interest from Celtic, he doesn’t work in the media so isn’t under pressure to bring up transfer speculation.
While he quotes the Daily Mail report that report seems mainly based on his own tweet which is a common theme at this time of the year with media outlets constantly scanning online for hints of transfer activity.
Le @ScotMailSport confirme ce soir que Quentin Merlin a été supervisé à plusieurs reprises par le #Celtic. Intérêt prononcé. Le Celtic pourrait offrir 8M€. #FCNantes https://t.co/0UMktbkc8i https://t.co/XletCrZHqv
— Emmanuel Merceron (@ManuMerceron) August 14, 2023
Translation: The @ScotMailSport confirms this evening that Quentin Merlin has been supervised on several occasions by the #Celtic . Strong interest. Celtic could offer 8M € . #FCNantes
The Daily Mail reported:
CELTIC are weighing up a move for Nantes defender Quentin Merlin. Mail Sport understands that the 21-year-old, who can operate at left-back or further forward, has been watched by Parkhead scouts on several recent occasions.
While the Ligue 1 club have yet to receive a formal bid for the player, it’s thought they are now aware of Celtic’s strong interest in the France Under-21s cap. With Merlin under contract until 2026, it’s believed Nantes would only entertain bids in excess of £7million for a highly-rated player who came through their system.
The left-back position at Celtic is an intriguing one with the unlikely Kieran Tierney rumour buzzing away in the background.
Economically there seems to be no way that Celtic could take up a loan or permanent deal for the Arsenal defender but after Brendan Rodgers returned to Celtic in June nothing can be ruled out.
What can be said is that he is sitting on a very lucrative contract that runs until May 2026 regardless of how far down the pecking order Mikel Arteta wants to push him.
Greg Taylor has done little wrong over the last two seasons, revelling in the role of inverted full-back and taking on a senior role in the dressing room as quoted by Ange Postecoglou.
Last summer Alexandro Bernabei was expected to take Taylor’s place in the Celtic side but despite a £3.5m transfer tag the Argentinian remained very much in the understudy role. Sleeping in for a team meeting hasn’t done Bernabei any favours in the early weeks of a new manager’s reign.
Taylor has looked far short of his usual self in Celtic’s opening two matches, it might be adjusting to a new manager but the Champions League is just over a month away with Rodgers knowing that a lot of Celtic fans are expecting a marked improvement in results after last season’s tally of two points from six matches.
Under Rodgers first time around there was a strong French element in the Celtic side led by Moussa Dembele and Odsonne Edouard with Olivier Ntcham putting in a very forceful first season before deteriorating rapidly.
The offer of Champions League football will tempt Merlin to Celtic but it will be something of a step into the unknown with a move to one of the top five European leagues the more likely stepping transfer route for emerging French players.
CLICK HERE for Merlin’s Transfermarkt profile.
