ENGLISH PREMIER PAIR ARE TRACKING SINCLAIR
Brighton and Bournemouth may move for Celtic star
PREMIER LEAGUE clubs Brighton and Bournemouth are monitoring Scott Sinclair’s situation at Celtic, with a view to offering Scotland’s Player of the Year a return to England this summer. Sinclair joined Celtic on a £3.5million transfer from Aston Villa in 2016 and was a spectacular success in his first Treble-winning season, scoring 25 goals and sweeping the boards with his various awards.
Although he has notched a healthy tally of 17 goals this term, he has cut a more subdued figure and has started Celtic’s last two league games on the bench.
One of those matches was the 3-2 victory over Rangers at Ibrox, a result that was marred for Sinclair as he was verbally abused at a Glasgow Airport lounge while waiting to board a flight to London.
Brighton manager Chris Hughton and Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe are admirers of the winger and would be in a position to test Celtic’s resolve to hang on to a player who has another two seasons to run on his contract.
Regardless, Parkhead boss Brendan Rodgers will look to freshen up his attacking options for next term. After Brighton’s failed pitch for Moussa Dembele in January, the French striker’s future is again likely to be thrown into focus when the summer transfer window opens.
And with Patrick Roberts set to return south after the completion of his second loan from Manchester City, Rodgers is exploring ways to freshen up the attacking options within his squad.
The manager has already committed to adding St Mirren’s Lewis Morgan to his pool. Ryan Christie will return from his second spell at Aberdeen and there is also a growing likelihood that Celtic will trigger an option to buy loan striker Odsonne Edouard from Paris Saint-Germain.
Goalkeeper Scott Bain, who is also on loan at Celtic from Dundee, has now been earmarked for a permanent deal as he becomes available under freedom of contract.