Celtic ‘close’ to striking deal for Man Utd man as Rangers face fresh competition from Premiership rivals

Celtic and Rangers will already be looking ahead to next season following another campaign of battling each other for the Premiership title. The Hoops came out on top again this season, while they also edged their biggest rivals in the closest of Scottish Cup finals.

Both teams will be bidding to improve this pre-season, with Brendan Rodgers needing to prepare his men for a Champions League campaign, while Philippe Clement’s priority will be a more successful title charge. In the meantime, we have rounded up the latest news surrounding the two Glasgow giants.

Rangers face competition

Rangers will reportedly face competition in their bid to land goalkeeper Stojan Lekovic this summer. According to reports, Aberdeen are also interested in the FK Radnicki Kragujevac starter, with Bundesliga club Werder Bremen also lurking.

Fussball Europa report that despite Lekovic and Kragujevac agreeing a new contract recently, there was an agreement put in place to where the goalkeeper would be sold if a low six-figure offer was received. Rangers are capable of paying such a fee, but it seems they will have to beat one of their rivals and potentially other competition to get a deal done this summer.

Bayindir deal ‘close’
Elsewhere on the goalkeeper front, Celtic are said to be closing in on a deal to sign Manchester United keeper Altay Bayindir. According to Aksam, the Hoops have found their replacement for the outgoing Joe Hart, and they will reportedly snap him up on a four-year contract.

Bayindir only joined United last summer, but he instantly became number two due to the signing of Andre Onana from Inter Milan. The fee is unconfirmed, but United reportedly paid £4.3million for the goalkeeper’s services last summer.

Speaking about the competition at United earlier this year, Bayindir said: “All the goalkeepers, their character is very nice. We are always positive. Of course, we are fighting [to be] on the pitch, because everyone wants to play with the team in the stadium. But we have a good energy. It doesn’t matter who is playing, because we will, of course, support them every time. Team spirit is very important, you know? If we are doing this, we can be successful in the game, it’s very important. I think if we’re always doing that, we can always go up.”

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