Josh Doig’s Marseille move collapses, Celtic could move for £4.5m-rated defender

Former Hibernian left back Josh Doig had his move to Marseille collapse at the eleventh hour. The 6ft 2 defender was due to make the switch to Gattuso’s Ligue 1 side before Hellas Verona pulled the plug on the deal.

Doig, who was linked with Celtic heavily during his spell at Hibernian, had been the subject to an agreed £4.5m fee. Although, with the player reportedly readying for a flight to the South of France, his club changed their minds.

It is expected that Sassuolo will join the race for the player and are willing to offer a more impressive package for the Scottish defender’s services. However, with the £4.5m fee clearly around the asking price for Doig, could Celtic make a move?

Olympique Marseille have reportedly made an offer of €5M for Josh Doig, Hellas Verona are holding out for €6M

The 21-year-old Scottish left back has made just 11 appearances in Serie A this season and a move looks imminent with Torino and Udinese also interested.… pic.twitter.com/IYlX1zyHqt

— Everything Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 (@AboutScotlandd) January 9, 2024

Doig would qualify as part of the club’s Scottish contingent for European purposes as well as bringing height, pace and aggression to the back line. It is no secret that the manager wants to move on Alexandro Bernabei and offer competition to Greg Taylor.

Celtic have been linked with signing Owen Beck from Liverpool. The Welsh youngster spent the first half of the season at Dundee before being recalled, where he impressed. Now, it remains to be seen whether Liverpool would let him leave either temporarily or permanently.

Celtic have been looking to strengthen the left back position for some time, you would even wonder if Verona would consider a cash plus player swap with Bernabei heading the other way. The Argentine has an Italian passport and off-field issues have plagued his time at Celtic so far. It is perhaps disappointing that we haven’t seen more of him but both Ange and Brendan saw him everyday at training and decided to limit his time in the first team.

Elsewhere, Celtic are expected to complete the signing of Nicolas Kuhn from Rapid Vienna today. The deal is expected to be around £3m with add-ons. Then, Brendan wants a left back and a striker before the window closes. There is also chatter of loan deals with the club already planning their summer business. The most important thing is having the quality capable of winning the league, which ensures qualification to the UCL Group Stages.