Hart bows out after lifting Celtic’s trophy
CHELSEA have agreed an initial £29million fee for Palmeiras teenager Estevao Willian. The deal for the 17-yearold winger could rise to £55m with a number of add-ons.
Estevao is one of several young talents that Chelsea have been monitoring while developing a strong presence in South America with co-sporting director Laurence Stewart playing a key role in talks for Estevao.
Estevao, known as Messinho or Little Messi, cannot leave Brazil until he turns 18 next April but Chelsea were keen to head off competition from the likes of Arsenal and Barcelona.
Chelsea have also expressed an interest in Shakhtar Donetsk’s 21-year old playmaker Georgiy Sudakov.
Meanwhile, Aston Villa have joined Tottenham on a growing list of clubs monitoring developments with Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher.
The 24-year-old has been instrumental for Mauricio Pochettino this season and has never shied away from the fact he would prefer to stay at Stamford Bridge but his homegrown status makes him a standout candidate for Chelsea to sell to stay on the right side of profit and sustainability rules.
Gallagher, who has an outside chance of making England’s Euros squad, has still to discuss a new contract but will wait and see what happens with Pochettino in the coming weeks before considering his next step.
CELTIC goalkeeper Joe Hart hailed the most special moment of his career after playing his final league game. The 37-year-old received a huge ovation after being taken off in the 87th minute, just after Luis Palma had scored the winner in a 3-2 victory over St Mirren at Parkhead.
A huge banner was unveiled at the start of the second half that declared ‘Super Joe Hart’ as Hart made his final appearance at Celtic Park.
The England international (75 caps) is now hoping to clinch the seventh trophy of his Celtic career against Rangers in the Scottish Cup final next Saturday. Asked to sum up his emotions after lifting the trophy (left), Hart said: ‘Guys, I have never felt professionally that special before in my entire life. From the bottom of my heart, I absolutely adore every single one of you, everyone associated with this football club. Thank you so much for having me.’