Celtic could be forced to show their hand if they want to sign Tours striker Olivier Giroud after top French side Monaco were reported to have had a bid for the player rejected. Tony Mowbray has had Giroud watched several times recently and jetted out to France to personally assess the in-form hitman last week.
But Monaco are expected to return with an increase on their initial £1.5million offer as the race for Giroud’s signature hots up, according to the Daily Record. Middlesbrough are also said to be preparing an offer for the player, with Spurs and Portsmouth also interested.
The 6' 4" striker has been in devastating form for Ligue 2 club Tours and netted his 14th league goal of the season against Angers on Friday with Mowbray, Celtic assistant manager Mark Venus and scout John Park in attendance. The striker has stepped up his form after scoring 12 goals in 23 games last season and it is inevitable that he will move to a bigger club in January.
Whether that club is Celtic could depend on how far the club will go to land the player. While chairman John Reid has said that the club will pursue a sensible spending policy, Mowbray will have money to spend in January as he seeks to regain the SPL title.
Celtic currently have Scott MacDonald, Georgios Samaras, Marc-Antoine Fortune and Chris Killen competing for the forward positions and with Fortune being Mowbray’s first big signing his place in the side seems assured. Wigan have again been linked with a move for MacDonald and the player could be allowed to leave, initially on loan, if a bid for Giroud is accepted.
Mowbray’s new look Celtic could take shape by January with Korean Ki Sung-Yong due to arrive in Glasgow this week to complete a move and Honduran defender Osman Chavez currently on trial at the club. The club have been linked with a move for Coventry City striker Leon Best and Gary Caldwell could be making his way out of Celtic Park.
Defender Caldwell is out of contract at the end of the season and is being tracked by a number of clubs in England and Germany, according to reports.
Tony Mowbray has confirmed that Giroud was under consideration but said that he was only one of a number of players being scouted.
Last updated: 01 December 2009, 11:33
The links provided allow you to bookmark this page into your favourite social media website. For users with JavaScript disabled copy and paste the URL from the address bar into your chosen social bookmarking site.