CeltsAreHere understands Landon Emenalo’s loan move to Celtic is expected to be completed later this evening.
The Chelsea left-back has been on Celtic’s radar for much of the summer, with the 18-year-old identified as the player to provide cover for Kieran Tierney.
This one has been bubbling away for a while.
Emenalo was at Lennoxtown earlier in the summer for a look around Celtic’s training base as the club made their pitch to the youngster.
After that, though, things went very quiet.
The defender returned to Chelsea and has been working on his fitness, with a small knock also believed to have held things up. As the weeks passed without much being said about the move, it was fair to wonder whether Celtic had moved on and were looking elsewhere.
They hadn’t.
CeltsAreHere has been told the deal remained alive and Celtic are now expecting to get it over the line, with Emenalo set to join on loan from Chelsea.
Crucially, there is no option to buy included in the agreement.
It is a fairly straightforward deal from Celtic’s point of view. Tierney is the clear first-choice left-back, but asking him to carry that position across a full domestic and European season without proper cover would have been a gamble.
Emenalo gives Martin O’Neill another natural option there.
Celtic’s dealings with Chelsea might not end with the defender either. His Stamford Bridge teammate Shim Mheuka has also been heavily linked with a move to Parkhead, with reports suggesting the striker is closing in on a switch.
Things are certainly beginning to move now.
Celtic confirmed the arrival of midfielder Oliver Sørensen from Parma on Tuesday afternoon, and Emenalo is expected to follow later in the day to make the Europa squad.
There is still work to be done, however.
The Scottish transfer window does not close until 5pm on Thursday, September 3, giving Celtic extra time after the English window shuts on Tuesday night.
That could prove useful because there are still a number of areas to sort out before Celtic can call this window finished.
Emenalo looks like one of the deals that will finally get done. With a little over two days remaining, attention will quickly turn to what else Celtic can get through the door before Thursday’s 5pm deadline.
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