Scottish Premiership

CELTIC are braced for a big-money Norwich bid for Kristoffer Ajer.SunSport revealed in April that the Canaries had scouted the Norwegian defender.
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Celtic are braced for bid from Premier League new boys Norwich City for Kristoffer AjerCredit: The Sun
The Premier League new boys are now poised to firm up their interest with an official bid.
Ajer only has 12 months left on his Celtic deal — but could still command a fee of around £10million.
Newcastle United are also keen but Norwich are now stepping up their interest in the 23-year-old. 
Director of football Stuart Webber saw Ajer in the final weeks of the season as he tweaks the squad for the Premier League.
Star man Emi Buendia could be sold for around £30million, with Arsenal and Villa leading the chase for the Argentine.
Norwich will reinvest some of that cash, and a new centre-half is one of boss Daniel Farke’s top priorities.

Norwich star Buendia could be sold in transfer worth around £30millionCredit: PA
Meanwhile, AEK Athens could be willing to waive part of Vasilis Barkas’ transfer fee to cut a quick deal for Olivier Ntcham.
SunSport revealed the Greek giants want to sign the Celtic midfielder.
The Hoops spent £4.5m to land Barkas last year but it won’t all have been paid up front.
And Greek sources claim AEK could reduce the final fee, or potential add-ons, in order to land Ntcham now.
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Celtic have the option to terminate the final year of his deal but that looks unlikely.
Despite a disastrous loan spell at Marseille, the midfielder still has admirers.
But AEK have moved to the front of the queue and want a quick answer from Ntcham.
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CELTIC have widened their managerial search by targeting Jose Mourinho’s former assistant Rui Faria, according to reports.Ange Postecoglou remains the hot favourite to succeed Neil Lennon in the Parkhead hotseat, with a deal still expected to be concluded this week.
Rui Faria has been linked with the Celtic managerial vacancy after previously working with Jose MourinhoCredit: Getty Images – Getty
But after being stung by the failure to land Eddie Howe after a lengthy pursuit, the Hoops are said to be keeping their options open this time around.
And according to the Daily Record, they have held ‘tentative talks’ with Faria’s representatives in a bid to establish his interest.
The 45 year-old is available after leaving Qatari club Al-Duhail last year, his first post as a manager in his own right.
Prior to that he was Mourinho’s right-hand man for 17 years including at Porto, Inter, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Man United – lifting the UEFA Cup AGAINST Celtic in 2003.
Rui Faria’s representatives are said to have had “tentative talks” with CelticCredit: AFP or licensorsWIN £50,000 with Dream Team EurosDream Team Euros is HERE!

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Faria has also been linked with the manager’s vacancy at Wolves but is said to be keen on the Celtic post if Postecoglou doesn’t get it.
Mourinho has always spoken highly of his former assistant and believes he would thrive as a manager at a big club.
Speaking during their second spell together at Chelsea, Mou said: “I don’t want to put them, all of them in the same dimension.
“And when I, if one day I have to speak about disciples, the real one is the one that is with me since 2000.

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“The one that has more potential than any other one. The one that if he wants to become a manager tomorrow he is more than ready to do it at the highest level.
“If one day I have to choose my successor, if you want to use that, the one that I really feel thinks like me, is adapted to my way of leading, adapted to my way of coaching.

“He’s the one with more similarities with me even in some traces of personality… my assistant, Rui Faria.”
Postecoglou remains the bookies’ favourite for the post, with Hibs boss Jack Ross next in the betting at 12/1.
After that come former Celtic interim coach John Kennedy and Scotland boss Steve Clarke, both available at 14/1.
Rui Faria is still a huge outsider in the market at 66/1.

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STEVE CLARKE’S plans for tonight’s friendly with Holland are in chaos after SIX players were ruled out over Covid-19 fears.Midfielder John Fleck was KO’d yesterday after testing positive for Coronavirus.
Steve Clarke has concerns ahead of the game against the Dutch
Now another half-dozen players have been taken out of the squad as a precaution.
Stars David Marshall, John McGinn, Che Adams, Stephen O’Donnell, Grant Hanley and Nathan Patterson will miss the clash.
They have stayed at the Scotland camp in Spain while the rest of the group flew to Portugal for tonight’s bounce game with the Dutch.
The bombshell decision was taken after Scotland medics did a risk assessment on the back of Fleck’s diagnosis.
Che Adams will play no part in tonight’s match against the Netherlands
Scotland talisman John McGinn is out the game
BREAKING: Grant Hanley, Che Adams, John McGinn, David Marshall, Nathan Patterson and Stephen O’Donnell all OUT of Scotland’s game against Holland tonight. All six players identified as ‘being in the vicinity’ of John Fleck who is self-isolating with Covid-19. @scotsunsport— Robert Grieve (@robert_grieve) June 2, 2021

None of the six players have tested positive for Covid -19 and aren’t considered definite close contacts.
But it’s been decided they were ‘in the vicinity’ of Fleck for long enough to potentially be at risk – and the advice given by medics is they are ultra cautious.
It means Clarke will be without seven key players for the vital Euros warm-up.
Sheffield United star Fleck has no symptoms but has been ordered to stay away from his team-mates until he gets TWO all-clear tests.
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But Clarke hopes Fleck is soon back training with the squad as the midfielder will continue fitness work on his own.
Clarke revealed: “We don’t know how it happened. But we’re 99.9 per cent sure that John would have had it before he came to Spain, with the incubation period.

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“Hopefully it’s a one-off and an isolated case.
“I’ve spoken to John, he’s fine and has no symptoms. We’ll try and make his time stuck in his room as good as possible for him.
“We’ll get an exercise bike into his room and keep him moving. We’ll look after him, that’s all we can do.

 “But we don’t really want that situation to be the big story. The big story is that we’re in camp and had a fantastic time up until now.
“The training has been good, everything has been top notch.
“The only thing we haven’t really controlled very well is the weather.”

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ANGE POSTECOGLOU has emerged as the shock front runner for the Celtic job after a deal for Eddie Howe collapsed.SunSport revealed the ex-Bournemouth gaffer had dramatically pulled out of the job.
Ange Postecoglou is now set to be the new Celtic managerCredit: Getty
Ex-Borussia Dortmund boss Lucien Favre also has admirers at CelticCredit: EPA
Celtic later confirmed the news – with club sources claiming they are in advanced talks with a new target.
Former Australia boss Postecoglou is understood to be that man – and came from nowhere to be installed as the bookies’ favourite.
But SunSport can reveal the Yokohama F Marinos boss is well known to members of the Celtic hierarchy.
The Japanese club are owned by the City Group, who have developed close links with the Hoops in recent years.
Postecoglou, 55, previously bossed the Socceroos at the 2014 World Cup and has won the Asian Cup and domestic titles in Australia and Japan.
He is a left-field candidate but has a good coaching reputation, plays attacking football and would jump at the chance of a move to Celtic.
Former Borussia Dortmund boss Lucien Favre also has Hoops boardroom admirers and remains a free agent.
The 63-year-old indicated an interest in the Celtic job months ago and is still out of work after leaving Dortmund in December.
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Eddie Howe turned down the Celtic jobCredit: PA
The Swiss coach is rated highly after sterling work at Borussia Monchengladbach and Nice.
Like Postecoglou, though, he has no experience of the British game.
Ex-Celtic player Roy Keane also remains interested in a return to Parkhead.
Hoops chiefs now face a race against time to appoint a new man, with pre-season just three weeks away.
Celtic thought the Howe deal would fall into place when Bournemouth’s season ended in a play-off defeat to Brentford last weekend.
But fresh talks stalled and by Thursday Howe informed Celtic his backroom team wouldn’t be available and that he was out.

However, the Parkhead club revealed they are in advanced talks with someone, with the aim of appointing a new manager “very shortly”.
A Hoops statement said: “We can now confirm Eddie will not be joining the club, for reasons outwith both his and Celtic’s control.
“We wish Eddie success for the future.
“As part of the ongoing process we have engaged with a number of candidates.”
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EDDIE HOWE’S move to Celtic is OFF after the deal to sign the ex-Bournemouth boss collapsed in the 11th hour.The Hoops have spent months in talks with the English boss as they edged ever closer to appointing him.
Ex-Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe will NOT be taking the job at CelticCredit: PA
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But SunSport can now revealed the deal bringing Howe, 43, to Scotland has hit unexpected obstacles in the last 24 hours.
As things stand, Howe will NOT be moving to Celtic – leaving club chiefs stunned with pre-season around the corner.
Neil Lennon left his post over three months ago with Howe the No1 target -but the Hoops will now hunt for alternatives.
Howe quickly emerged as the club’s top target after meeting Celtic bosses for preliminary discussions.
It’s understood a deal in principle was agreed in April after positive talks.
But the ex-Cherries manager made it clear he wouldn’t take the job until the end of the season – with Celtic happy to wait.
John Kennedy took on the role of interim boss until earlier this month, with Hoops chiefs confident they had a deal for Howe sewn up.
Howe planned to bring Bournemouth coaches Stephen Purches and Simon Weatherstone north of the border with him.
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Cherries technical director Richard Hughes had also been earmarked for a recruitment role.
Bournemouth’s play-off defeat to Brentford last Saturday looked to have paved the way for all that to happen.
But the result didn’t lead to quick developments – with Celtic forced to put season tickets on sale this week.
In a statement, Celtic bosses admitted they had hoped to have an appointment in place by then – but promised it ‘shortly’.
But now 48 hours on, the deal to bring Howe in has hit the buffers, leaving Celtic in a mad scramble for a manager.
But there is little time for new chief executive Dominic McKay – with the squad due back for pre-season on June 21.
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