Transfer Rumours

Rabiu Ibrahim joins Celtic, subject to work permit

Free agent Rabiu Ibrahim after a successful trial where he played in some bounce games. @polishturnstile confirmed that he has agreed for a deal, passed a medical and Celtic are waiting on a work permit.

He has supposidly signed a three and a half year deal after terminating his contract with PSV due to his lack of first team football. This might not sound like the best signing in the world but he was in the top 50 promising youngsters a few years ago. PSV have some really good wingers at the club like Georginio Wijnaldum, Jeremain Lens and Dries Mertens.

He started playing football in a team called Gateway, then moved into the Sporting Lisbon youth where he was voted the best player in the 2008 Bellinzona Under-19 International Tournament.

One year later Celtic got interested but he wasn't signed due to work-permit issues.

He was then linked with VVV-Venlo and Liverpool but he decided to move to PSV instead in 2011 where the manager said:
"Ibrahim is fast, technically skilled, physically strong and has a good sense of field position, there is something in that boy"

Then a few weeks ago he decided to go for a Mutual termination due to lack of first team football after PSV made some big cash signings.

So due to the way he left PSV I guess Celtic will only be signing him if he is good enough for the first team. I think he could be a good addition to the squad probably pushing for a place over Samaras on the left wing while Commons, Forrest and Brown battle for a position on the right hand side.

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Brown signs three and a half year deal

After months of speculation Scott Brown signed a three and a half year deal for Celtic with the option of adding on another 12 months.

Lennon has always felt that Brown is an important player for the team, lets hope his injury problems are behind him and the full team focuses on winning the league. Talks were going well and Brown agreed to terms of a new contact a few months ago but Celtic were unwilling to pay a fee Brown's Agent wanted. Brown signed for Celtic for £4.4m in 2007 since then he has went on to score 15 goals in 170 apperancies.

Brown:
"I am absolutely delighted to sign this new contract with Celtic and commit my future to the club. I'm happy to be back from injury and I now want to just concentrate on the challenges which face us this season domestically and in Europe as we try to bring our fans some success. I would like to thank our supporters for the great backing they have given the club during the course of the season already."

"As always, they have been magnificent and I know the manager and all the players are totally focused on doing everything we can to achieve as much as we possibly can this season for our fans."

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Celtic sell Jos Hooiveld to Southampton

Jos Hooiveld has signed a three year deal for Southhampton for an undisclosed fee.

Jos failed to break into the Celtic team after Mowbray signed him in the 2010 January transfer window. He played against Hamilton then he got injured for the rest of the season in the next game vs Kilmarnock.

After the summer break he got back into the side but following two bad games against Braga and Utrecht he was shipped off to Copenhagen on loan during the January transfer window. He made 11 appearances for Copenhagen but they chose not to take up the end of loan deal.

This summer he was shipped off to Southampton on loan until January, after 15 appearances Southampton signed him permanently for an undisclosed fee.

Celtic fans will be wondering, how much did we get and why couldn't he do that at Celtic? Anyway good luck Jos I hope we see you in the premier league soon.

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Scott Brown ignores rumours

Scott Brown came out today playing down speculation that he is on the verge of a move to Newcastle.

Brown's contract is due to end this summer and there have been reports that contract negotiations haven't been very smooth. Unconfirmed reports claim that Celtic are unwilling to meet a £150,000 agent fee although there is no solid source behind this.

"I've heard all the stuff about Newcastle but I haven't paid the slightest bit of attention to it, I'm captain of Celtic why would I even think about going anywhere else? I have a hunger to win more trophies as Celtic captain so that I can look back at my time with the club and consider myself to have been a success. The club know how I feel and as long as the manager wants me here, then I don't see a problem in working out a deal."

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Mikael Lustig to join the Hoops in January

Swedish right-back Mikael Lustig has agreed a three and a half year deal which will see him arrive at Celtic for free in January.

Lustig broke into the Rosenborg team in 2008 and has attracted interest from Fulham and Espanyol since then. Last season Rosenborg won the league without losing a game, however this season they find themselves in 5th position with one game to go.

Upon joining Celtic Lustig said:
“This is a really exciting time for me and I am delighted to be committing my future to Celtic. I know a lot about Celtic, about the size of the club.” “I’m really looking forward to joining this squad, to the challenges ahead and hopefully playing my part in bringing some success to the club,”

Lennon also commented:
“We are delighted to bring Mikael to Celtic,” he said about a player who can play at full-back or in central defence. We believe he has the qualities to make a real impact at the club and we look forward to him joining us in January. He is a player with international pedigree and a defender with great versatility. He is someone who I feel will be a very positive addition to the squad.”

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