CELTIC are monitoring Manchester City duo Ko Itakura and Taylor Harwood-Bellis, according to Sky Sports’ Anthony Joesph.
https://twitter.com/AnthonyRJoseph/status/1529464138807791619?s=20&t=9SohN8wBi0sYFJkuS8bs7Q
The Parkhead club see the pair as a potential replacement to Chris Jullien, whose future looks uncertain at Celtic. The defender has hinted that he’ll be pushing for a Celtic exit this summer.
Celtic are still in discussions with Carter-Vickers. The American’s stay at Celtic Park looks increasingly likely to turn permanent in the coming weeks.
Of course, Celtic had an interest in Ko Itakura last summer, but the defender ended up playing last season in Germany with Schalke. The club weren’t interested in triggering the clause to make his move permanent. It was thought that the fee Man City had installed was about £4 million. However, the Japanese defender has now entered the last year of his contract, meaning Celtic could push for a lesser fee.
Ko played 31 times last season, netting the ball 4 times. He’s also been capped 8 times by Japan.
Taylor Harwood-Bellis has just returned to Man City after playing his football with Stoke this season. The highly-rated youngster played 31 times in the English Championship last season. He’s also a regular for the under 21 side, aged 20.
Guardiola is fond of the young Englishman, meaning that a loan to buy deal may not be on the cards. However, with Ko Itakura, aged 25, he’ll likely look to make an exit from the English champions this summer.
No formal discussions have taken place yet, so these are certainly ones to keep an eye on over the coming weeks as Ange Postecoglou looks to continue his Celtic rebuild.
