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The latest transfer headlines from Celtic and Rangers
Scottish champions Celtic have set their sights on a loan move for forgotten Chelsea starlet Carney Chukwuemeka in the January transfer window.
Brendan Rodgers is understood to be keen to bolster his squad depth in midfield to boost Celtic’s chances of competing both domestically and in Europe, and has identified Chukwuemeka as the type of profile that would hugely benefit the current dynamic he has in place. Chukwuemeka made a name for himself at Aston Villa after joining the academy from Northampton in 2016.
The former England Under-20 international thrived at youth level and was a key component in the team which became FA Youth Cup winners in 2021 while also picking up the Team’s Academy Player of the Season award in the process.
The 6ft 2in midfielder was fast tracked into the first team at Villa Park by Steven Gerrard and was described by Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson as someone that was destined to be ‘an absolute star’ after shining in a 6-0 victory over Barrow in the Carabao Cup.
Chukwuemeka made a total of 14 Premier League appearances before departing Aston Villa for an eyecatching fee of around £20m during Thomas Tuchel’s final summer at Stamford Bridge.
The youngster racked up 14 Premier League appearances and showed signs of promise in a chaotic season which was marred by a number of managerial changes and the team’s failure to qualify for Europe in 2022/23.
He also made a strong first impression on Mauricio Pochettino and started both of the opening two games last season before sustaining a serious knee injury which ruled him out for most of last season.
However, the 21-year-old is not thought to be a part of Enzo Maresca’s new-look team in West London and has so far been limited to two 15 minute cameos in the League Cup and Europa Conference League without getting onto the pitch for a single Premier League game.
Football Insider claims Chelsea are keen to cut their losses on Chukwuemeka with a permanent sale but adds that the Stamford Bridge side could be open to a loan offer from Celtic in January.
Philippe Clement makes honest Vaclav Cerny admission
Rangers boss Philippe Clement says that he hopes Vaclav Cerny will not be the latest Ibrox loanee that the club miss out on in the summer.
The Czech Republic winger has been a shining light this season with nine goals across all competitions, with his most recent coming in the 6-0 hammering of Kilmarnock.
Many supporters are keen to see the Wolfsburg man extend his stay beyond the end of the season. But as things stand, £6.5m rated Cerny looks destined to head back to Germany after Ibrox chiefs failed to negotiate a permanent option in the contract.
Clement is a huge admirer of the player but has hinted that the situation could prove to be similar to what happened with fan favourite Abdallah Sima last summer after his impressive loan spell from Brighton.
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He said, via Daily Record :“Yeah, I had discussions with the board in June about the wages, which had to be lowered a lot. One of the points that we talked about is having players on loan, it's something we need for the moment.
“We don't have the money to buy Vaclav for the moment now and we didn't have the money to buy Abdallah at that moment. But we need to to try every year to have one player less on loan and one player more that's an asset for the club because we're going to have a similar situation at the end of the season in that way.
“Abdallah wanted to stay here, loved to stay here. But of course other teams are also interested and in one moment he chooses also for his career, for his wages, for everything. So of course all the club wants to lower the amount of players on loan and that's a strategy for the next couple of years, but you cannot solve all these problems in one transfer window.
"Vaclav loves it here clearly, he told me also last week that he never felt better in his career than now physically, mentally, in the team, in the dressing room, with the staff, in the club, with the fans, everything. But of course he has a contract with another club at the end of the season, so that's negotiations again.”
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