Celtic have been involved with a flurry of transfer rumours these past couple of days following the official announcement of Brendan Rodgers as manager again, and the capture of Norwegian youngster, Odin Thiago Holm. South Korean winger Yang Hyun-jun and Kings Kangwa of Red Star Belgrade in Serbia have both been linked with moves to the Scottish Champions and Treble winners.

Undoubtedly there are several areas that the Hoops could improve on and with attack and midfield being perused over in recent days, it’s now time for the defensive line to be appraised as we’re now being linked with a Premier League defender too. With the link to former Leicester City utility man Daniel Amartey hitting the headlines as to a possible fist capture for Rodgers, this latest name is intriguing as it is someone from higher up the food chain in the EPL.

According to Olt Sports, Celtic are apparently in discussions with Arsenal star Rob Holding’s representatives along with top-flight club Brentford and another unnamed team at this time. It says that Holding will be cut loose by Mikel Arteta and he can leave the Emirates Stadium this summertime for around £8 million.

Once again, merely rumours at this stage, however, defence should be a priority as we could do with strengthening and reinforcing that backline. Towards the end of last season, with defensive rock Cameron Carter-Vickers missing due to knee surgery, we badly missed his influence at the back.

Yuki Kobayashi’s lack of experience and Tomoki Iwata’s unsuitability to play that role in such a physical league as the Scottish Premiership, meant we were caught short at times and it made for some nervy viewing from the sidelines.

Rob Holding is a very experienced player at this point and has played Premier League football for years, as well as being able to play centre-back and right-back when required. Although he is prone to mistakes at times, he would almost certainly be a stellar addition for domestic football, but Champions League? Very much up for debate.

Rob Holding of Arsenal reacts after Manchester City scored their sides third goal during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Arsenal FC at Etihad Stadium on April 26, 2023 (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

✅🚨 Rob Holding is close to an Arsenal exit

💰 The Englishman will be available for a fee at the region of £8M

🤝 Brentford, Celtic and one unnamed club are in discussion with the players representatives.

✍️ #TFUpdatesWithOlt pic.twitter.com/fPIOynflXE

— Olt Sports (@oltsport_) June 22, 2023

Paul Gillespie

HUGE SAVINGS IN THE CELTIC STAR’S SUMMER SALE!

The Celtic Star’s book promotion has been so successful, with hundreds of books at great prices being posted to Celtic fans all over the world, that we’ve decided to continue with the sale until the end of July. We’ve reduced all six books currently available from their usual retail price of £20 and prices are as low as £6 (see below).

All books are high quality hardback, with some signed by the author. And it’s also worth noting that you only pay postage on one book, so it’s free for the second, third and so on. ORDER HERE or click on The Celtic Star image above…this is how it feels to be Celtic!