Toulouse President Damien Comolli has confirmed that the club are keen on re-signing Vakoun Issouf Bayo from Celtic. The Ivorian striker scored 12 goals on loan in the South of France last season but it remains to be seen whether he will return for pre-season under Ange Postecoglou at Celtic.
Comolli says that Bayo is the man with the power to make the decision and that he wants to bring the player back as they look to get out of Ligue 2 after narrowly missing out last year – although, he admits that doesn’t know whether it will be a loan or a transfer. Celtic France on Twitter, who often provide local news from across The Channel and they detail that Toulouse want Bayo to stay.
🟣 The Toulouse president speaking about #Bayo : ”The ball is in his court, I await his response. But he’s a player we would like to have in the squad. The option to buy was too important for us. We are ready to sign him again but I do not know if it will be a loan or a transfer”
— Celtic France (@Celtic_FR) June 24, 2021
Injuries hampered his progress in Glasgow with the 24-year-old missing preseason before returning to fitness in time to sign for the Ligue 2 side. Neil Lennon gave Bayo some chances and it was obvious that he had presence in attack but again, he was impacted by injuries.
The player was clearly not a Brendan Rodgers signing, which meant that he wasn’t integrated into the first team when he arrived. Injuries and a lack of match fitness meant that Lennon didn’t have a chance to fully utilise him as it didn’t appear that he was a better option than Griffiths or Edouard.
Ange Postecoglou will likely see Bayo as surplus to requirements and may have his own ideas for targets already. But, there remains an outside chance that the Australian may see Bayo returning as a chance to assess him before making a decision on his future. Celtic could likely relocate the funds for Bayo to sign another player, with a fair few no being linked.
