Next season Celtic boss hopeful of repeat deals and keeping Gordon

CELTIC may have been unable to draw up their transfer budget for the summer yet due to the financial uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic throughout world football.

But Neil Lennon remains quietly confident he can assemble a squad capable of launching a strong challenge for a record-breaking 10th consecutive Scottish title next season in the weeks ahead all the same.

Lennon spoke to the media at a trackside press conference at Parkhead yesterday which observed strict social distancing restrictions – another indication that life is slowly but surely returning to normality again.

He revealed yesterday that talks between Celtic and Southampton about Mohammed Elyounoussi and Fraser Forster returning to Glasgow on loan were ongoing and described the chances of securing their services once again as “not unrealistic”.

Elsewhere, the Northern Irishman, whose side were awarded their ninth straight Premiership last month after the SPFL board curtailed the top flight, also stressed that he was still hopeful of Craig Gordon signing a new deal.

Gordon lost his first-team place to former England keeper

Forster last term and is now out of contract – but he has received the offer of a new deal from Celtic and negotiations are continuing.

“Every club has been affected, all over the world,” said Lennon. “All clubs have taken a hit. I saw Spurs have just taken out a huge loan and we know the money going around in England.

“It’s no surprise Scottish sides feel it as well. We’ve not been able to sit down and work out the budget either. We’re not immune to the financial implications of all of this either.

“But we’d really like to have both of them [Elyounoussi and Forster] back for next season. They both made great contributions last year and they are top-quality players.

“I was really impressed with Mo up until his season got curtailed by a foot injury. He’s come back looking strong and hungry. It’ll need to be thrashed out between both clubs, but it’s been encouraging to hear what they have both been saying about the club.

“It won’t be just down to us as they are not our players. You have the strange fragmented time with transfers, with the English league not finishing until the end of July. We might have to be patient, but talks are ongoing at the minute.”

He added: “There’s no movement [on Gordon] yet, but talks are also ongoing.

The door is always open. I’d like to keep him, he’s a top professional and he handled himself really well last season.

“Craig is absolute quality and we don’t know what will happen with Fraser as well. We’ll hopefully know more over the next few weeks.”

Elsewhere, the man who was last month named SFWA Manager of the Year after leading Celtic to the Betfred Cup and Premiership double, is also optimistic of holding on to Kristoffer Ajer and Odsonne Edouard.

Ajer and Edouard were linked with moves away from

Parkhead before the Covid-19 outbreak, but Lennon revealed that no bids have been received during lockdown and emphasised Celtic were keen to retain both the centre half and the striker.

“I was absolutely delighted with Odsonne last season,” he said. “He really kicked on with his all-round game and his contribution in terms of goals. I was delighted for him on a personal level to win the Football Writers’ Player of the Year.

“He was absolutely thrilled and it’s probably the accolade to win in the Scottish game. It was great to hear how he is tunnel-visioned in terms of what he wants to achieve here next season. We’ll do all we can to keep him happy for as long as possible.

“Will there be bids for Odsonne? I don’t know. There’s been no bids for anyone at the minute, which is pleasing because I want to maintain the continuity. It’s the same with Kris Ajer. There’s been talk, but nothing has come in.

“You want these guys to be part of something really special if we can achieve what

we are setting out to do this season.”

As for new signings? Lennon has previously stated that Celtic, who strengthened extensively last summer, only need to bring in two or three new faces. But he knows they may need to bide their time to make fresh acquisitions.

“I don’t think the markets will really open up until the English league finishes and we’ll get some kind of benchmark in terms of transfer fees and wages,” he said. “There are a lot of big deals to be done. It might just be a question of being patient and seeing what is available.

“You’d obviously like to

do your business early, but the window could be open until October. We can’t put a prediction of what will happen during these times.”

The start of the new Premiership campaign has been pencilled in for August 1 and Lennon, who returned to training with his players last week, admitted the sense of anticipation was already building.

“There’s a real sense of excitement and you want the full package,” he said. “You want your best players to be here and the fans to be eventually back in to see them go for it. We hope all things go smoothly on and off the pitch.”