Celtic target Niclas Eliasson is reportedly set to leave Bristol City in the summer if the Robins fail to get promotion to the Premier League from a congested Championship title race according to a report in The Daily Record.
Neil Lennon had been linked with a move for the winger in the January window but was unable to get a deal across the line and although the Swedish winger is out of contract in the summer the Ashton Gate side are believed to have the option of extending his deal by another 12 months if the recent comments of manager, Lee Johnson, are anything to go by:
“The way I would see it is he has 18 months on his contract but we would absolutely love it for him to sign a new contract. We value him hugely.”
“We’re discussing, he’s changed agents, but we’ve been sitting down and talking about it since the start of the summer but then agents change, other priorities come in between that. But the simple stance is we’d love him to stay longer.”
“In any negotiations it takes time but currently he has 18 months on his contract and we’d love to see it extended.”
Although Lennon was linked with a move for Eliasson – with 11 assists so far this season – he may have had a change of heart recently with his side now seven wins to the good in 2020 and in all but one fixture they have played with two central strikers and no wingers, however, he may be planning for the long term with both Mohamed Elyounoussi and Daniel Arzani only at the club on loan.
Celtic’s recruitment team will have been alerted to the news that the winger is potentially looking to engineer his exit from Bristol City and even with the contract extension option, they should still be able to pick him up for a reasonable price unless – as reported – Lazio and Villarreal follow up their respective interests.
Do Celtic need to sign another winger ahead of next season?
Yes
No
Whether or not a winger would sign for a club currently not playing with any remains to be seen and can only be judged at the season’s end when the success of Lennon’s formation shift can truly be analysed using the only metric that the Parkhead gaffer will care about – trophies.