Stephen McGowan has noted that Sunderland and Leeds United are showing interest in Celtic defender Cameron Carter-Vickers.
There is no shortage of transfer speculation around just now but when McGowan publishes details you can be fairly sure that it has come from a credible source.
Carter-Vickers has just completed four seasons with Celtic which is more than the usual length of stay for signings that have made a real impact.
Signed in the same transfer window as Josip Juranovic, Giosgos Giakoumakis, Kyogo Furuhashi and Carl Starfelt, who have all moved on, Carter-Vickers has been a fixture in the Celtic defence since his arrival from Spurs, initially on loan.
Since he moved to Celtic it has been a case of CCV and one other, fortunes have been spent trying to find the left sided defender to compliment the American internationalist.
If Carter-Vickers is sold this summer it would leave Brendan Rodgers looking for a new look central defensive partnership, possibly one of the most important areas in the team.
Clearly there is no Celtic future for Maik Nawrocki or Gus Lagerbielke, Stephen Welsh is bound to want to build on the first team experience that he gained at Mechelen while there is a decent sized question mark over Auston Trusty.
Not so spookily all of those candidates, plus Liam Scales all look at their best when they are paired up with Carter-Vickers.
The main take away from McGowan’s piece in the Herald was interest in Hayato Inamura but dropped in towards the end was mention of EPL interest in Carter-Vickers.
Celtic are working on a surprise move for Japanese defender Hayato Inamura.
Currently playing for Albirex Niigata the 23-year-old primarily plays as a left-sided centre-back but can also provide cover at left full-back.
Signed from Toyo University in 2021 six foot tall Inamura secured a J-League Cup runners-up medal last season, but currently finds himself locked in a relegation struggle in Niigata.
Celtic are no strangers to the Japanese market, signing the likes of Daizen Maeda, Kyogo Furuhashi, Reo Hatate, Tomoki Iwata and Yuki Kobayashi in the past.
The summer transfer window opens this morning with the Parkhead club keen to move quickly to secure more new players.
Kieran Tierney’s return has been confirmed on a five year deal. Nordsjaelland’s Swedish international winger Benjamin Nygren is close to signing for £2million.
Teenage Fulham striker Callum Osmand is also close to finalising a cross border move to Glasgow, while goalkeeper Ross Doohan has agreed a pre-contract move from Aberdeen as Scott Bain’s replacement.
Parkhead scouts have also tracked Red Star Belgrade’s teenage defender Veljko Milosavljevic and the club are in the market for another winger in anticipation of bids for Nicholas Kuhn later in the window.
The German wide man, shortlisted for PFA Scotland player of the season, could be one of a number of players to attract interest this summer.
Scotland defender Greg Taylor is close to moving overseas under freedom of contract while Leeds United and Sunderland have been credited with an interest in key central defender Cameron Carter-Vickers.
Midfielder Hatate is also keen to test himself in a top five league, while last season’s top scorer Maeda has yet to agree to a new contract.
Until the future of Brendan Rodgers is confirmed there is bound to be uncertainty and speculation over Celtic’s top players.
Carter-Vickers signed his second permanent Celtic contract in January 2024, a deal that runs until June 2029.
Now aged 27 there has been no suggestion that CCV is looking to move on although every now and then reports from America have flagged up interest from Germany and Turkey.
If the American internationalist is still a Celtic player at the end of this window the chances are that he will be a Celt for years to come.
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