Celtic have had their bid accepted by Aris Thessoloniki for their winger, Luis Palma. The story has been developing nicely for the past couple of days and there was reported interest from other clubs in Belgium, England and the Middle East. But various reports seem to point to the Bhoys winning the race for his signature.
A club in the Saudi Pro League had made a larger bid than Celtic that had been accepted by the Greek Super League outfit, however, as the Honduras ace fancies staying in Europe, it would appear that the Hoops are in pole position now to clinch the deal for their Jota replacement.
According to De La Rocha, the Saudi’s had bid €5.5 million for the wide-man, which is more than the stated price that Aris said they wanted to begin with. Despite this though, it is claimed that they reduced the asking price because Palma wants to play in the UEFA Champions League group stages this season with the Scottish Premiership Champions.
He claims that the Arabs are ‘still pressing’ but at this moment in time they are ‘too far away’ from a potential deal for the highly-rated 23-year-old forward. It’s a case of the Parkhead club now taking care of the player’s future contract and agreeing a deal with him and his representatives. Hopefully that shouldn’t be an issue as it’s also been reported that the club are willing to offer him eight times his current salary, according to Gazzetta publication in Greece.
🤯 La oferta de Arabia Saudita por Luis Palma es de 5.5M€. #Aris aceptó.
🤴🏻 ‘El Príncipe’ bajó la muy tentativa oferta porque quiere jugar la UCL con #Celtic.
⭐️ A sus 23 años la prioridad es Europa. Sueño > plata.
🇸🇦 Los árabes siguen presionando, pero están muy lejos. pic.twitter.com/ZZp6X28e1f
— De La Rocha (@AlvaroDLaRocha) August 25, 2023
🍀 Winger Luis Palma is set to become Brendan Rodgers' seventh new signing.
Celtic have agreed a fee of around £3.5m with Aris 👇
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) August 25, 2023
UPDATE: Celtic have agreed a fee of around £3.5m with Aris FC for winger Luis Palma.
It’s understood talks over personal terms on a four-year contract are in the final stages.
Once the deal is agreed and a work permit application is processed, he will travel to Glasgow. https://t.co/iuvMMBMEkk
— Anthony Joseph (@AnthonyRJoseph) August 25, 2023
Paul Gillespie
