As Celtic prepare themselves for a crack at the Champions League group stages for the first time since season 2017/18, manager Ange Postecoglou is keen to add to the squad to not only cope with the demands of the extra fixtures but also be able to equip himself well in Europes premier competition.
And according to The Times, the Hoops are interested in 23-year-old attacking midfielder Alex Collado.
Collado is said to be leaving the club on loan ‘soon’ and Fabrizio Romano confirmed as such in a tweet today:
Barcelona are prepared to complete Nico’s loan move to Valencia until June 2023, also Alex Collado will leave on loan soon. 🚨🔵🔴 #FCB
Juventus are pushing for Memphis Depay since July – contract proposal to be sent soon, but deal depends on Aubameyang-Chelsea developments. pic.twitter.com/k9ohI0A4RQ
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 9, 2022
Spanish journalist, Albert Roge also tweeted this morning that Celtic are one of four clubs looking at Collado so it seems Ange Postecoglou does face some stiff competition to try and capture his signature:
Olympiakos, Celtic de Glasgow y dos equipos de LaLiga, los primeros en moverse por Álex Collado.
Al canterano le gustaría jugar competición europea aunque también le atrae LaLiga, tras su buena actuación en el Granada.
En @relevo con @tjuanmarti #fcblive pic.twitter.com/leNJENC0qg
— Albert Rogé (@albert_roge) August 9, 2022
Translated as: “Olympiakos, Celtic Glasgow and two LaLiga teams, the first to move for Álex Collado.
“The youth squad would like to play European competition although LaLiga also attracts him, after his good performance at Granada.”
Collado joined Barcelona’s youth team in 2010 after starting his career at Mercantil. After two years at the youth club, he earned his move to Espanyol in 2006 where he spent a further four years before the Catalan giants picked him up [Mundo Deportivo].
He spent last season on loan at Grenada [Barcelona.com] where he appeared 17 times, scoring two goals.
Interestingly, Roge (above) described Collado as ‘Barcelona B’s best player’ in season 2020/21 [Sport.ES]
So it seems if Ange can pull off this signing, the club will be getting a serious player on their hands.
With a transfer release clause of €100m inserted into his extension, it is clear the Catalan giants highly rate Collado.
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