Obvious Celtic transfer fit just landed in Martin O’Neill’s lap

Could Celtic make a new signing worth £7m amid Premier League interest?

Celtic are in desperate need of attacking reinforcements this month. Earlier this week, manager Martin O’Neill confirmed that fans’ favourites Jota is unlikely to feature this season.

The 26-year-old superstar from Portugal returned to Glasgow a year ago, after a nightmarish 18-month period not playing much for either Al-Ittihad or Stade Rennais. However, back in April, on the day Celtic rubber-stamped the Premiership title at Tannadice, Jota ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament, and has not been seen since.

There was hope that Jota would be able to return soon. However, O’Neill confirmed this week that the winger has suffered “a minor setback” which may require keyhole surgery, meaning he will not be available for the remainder of the campaign. This makes Celtic’s need for attacking signings this January even more urgent, so should they push the boat out to land a priority target?

Celtic in the race to sign winger worth €7 million

As reported by Ben Jacobs, Celtic are one of numerous clubs to have enquired about FC Basel winger Philip Otele. He adds that the Nigerian is “set to leave” the Swiss Super League champions this month. Lazio, Bournemouth, Wolves and Birmingham City are also in the race.

The RotBlau value the 26-year-old at €7 million, which is just over £6 million. So, could he become the fourth Nigerian to represent Celtic, after Ibrahim Rabiu, Efe Ambrose and current striker Kelechi Ịheanachọ?

Otele has certainly had an unusual route to becoming a top-level professional football. While studying at Teesside University, he played in the Wearside Football League for Wolviston, down in the 11th tier of English football, offered a contract by Sunderland, one he was unable to accept due to visa restrictions.

Instead, he has represented Kauno Žalgiris in Lithuania, UTA Arad and Cluj in Romania as well as Al-Waḥda in the United Arab Emirates, before joining Basel a year ago. To date, Otele has scored 17 goals and registered seven assists for the Swiss champions, including netting against Freiburg and Genk during this season’s Europa League.

Ludovic Magnin’s team have not played a competitive fixtures since 20 December, returning to action after the winter break against Sion on Sunday; it’ll be interesting to see if Otele is involved. Back in August, the winger came close to joining Fulham for a reported £15 million, before the Cottagers instead signed Kevin from Shakhtar Donetsk.

Now available for less than half of that fee, this is surely a deal Celtic should do everything in their power to finalise. Otele is a right-footed player who is most comfortable operating off the left, suggesting he would be the perfect fit to fill Jota’s void.