Oostende are keen on exercising their option to buy Celtic youngster Osaze Urhoghide but believe that the current asking price set by Ange Postecoglou’s side is too high. The ex-Sheffield Wednesday kid joined the Belgian club in January on a loan with Oostende retaining first option should he become avaliable on a permanent basis.
As reported by Football Scotland, Gauthier Ganaye, Oostende’s chief executive has said that they want to action a move for the 21-year-old but price remains a barrier.
“Urhoghide has proved to be an excellent addition, but the problem is he is still too expensive for us.
“But I hope we can work out a solution with Celtic, then I would be very happy because we really want to keep Osaze.”
Postecoglou was just in the building when the highly-rated defender arrived from The Owls. The player only made 21 senior appearances (before coming from Sheffield Wednesday) so he was always to be regarded as one for the future as opposed to an ‘oven ready’ player for Celtic. Jack Hendry left the club for Oostende in a loan deal and was able to resurrect his career.
Since arriving, Urhoghide has been limited in terms of game time but he did impress in the win over Real Betis in the Europa League, playing at right-back. He was strong in the tackle, comfortable enough of the ball and showed pace to defend as well as attack. This performance will have proven to Postecoglou that the youngster has a future but with Tony Ralston vying for minutes with Croatian Internationalist Josip Juranovic, it is unlikely that Urhoghide would get the time he needs to develop at Celtic Park.
Brentford’s Kris Ajer is an example of a player that has benefited from being loaned out before returning and making an impact on the first team. Ajer spent time with Kilmarnock training as a central defender before returning to Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic and becoming a mainstay.
