Quentin Merlin is NOT of interest to Celtic right now as things stand, according to a report in the Daily Record. The French U21 left-sided defender had been reported to be one that is being considered by Brendan Rodgers and Mark Lawwell at present, with reports previously stating the Hoops had sent scouts to watch the player on several occasions.
Despite this though, Record Sport’s Mark Pirie is claiming that senior sources at Celtic Park have told the outlet that the Nantes man is not on the radar as we speak. It remains to be seen just how accurate this story is at this juncture, but it must be noted that Stephen McGowan of the Scottish Daily Mail had said that left-back was an area Rodgers wanted to strengthen, along with the goalkeeping department and the left-wing of the team.
The report states:
“Nantes left-back Quentin Merlin emerged as a surprise name to be linked with Celtic in the last 24 hours. Greg Taylor has emerged as the undisputed first-choice on the left side of the defence with Alexandro Bernabei providing competition.
“But it’s believed the champions do want to sign another left full-back and on Monday £7million Merlin surfaced as a contender. However, Record Sport has been told by a senior Parkhead source there is no interest in Merlin at this stage.”
There’s that many rumours at this stage, it’s difficult to keep on track of them all. However, with it being widely reported in the mainstream media that the Bhoys are indeed after another left-sided full-back, we should expect movement on that before the end of the transfer market closing at the beginning of September.
Paul Gillespie
