Celtic and Rangers braced for big name departures as one star ‘jets out for exit medical’

Celtic and Rangers could be set to part company with big name players as transfer speculation intensifies ahead of the 2024-25 season.

 

There are now less than two weeks until the new William Hill Scottish Premiership campaign kicks off and it remains to be seen how both Old Firm sides will line up in their opening fixtures with possible player departures the current hot topic.

Celtic start against Kilmarnock on Sunday, August 4, but will star man Matt O’Riley still be around for the flag raising ceremony to celebrate last season’s title success?

That will depend on whether any of his growing list of suitors meet Celtic’s valuation of the player as they hold out for a record transfer fee after turning down a second approach from Atalanta for the in-demand midfielder.

 

The Serie A side failed with an initial bid for the 23-year-old on Sunday before reports emerged of a new improved £14.3m offer including add-ons which has also been thrown out by Parkhead bosses.

 

The two clubs are said to be some distance apart in valuation with Celtic reportedly setting the bar at £25m but talks remain ongoing with the Italian outfit keen to land the Denmark international ahead of other interested parties including Atletico Madrid and Juventus.

Meanwhile, Rangers start their title bid away to Hearts on Saturday, August 3 and it appears increasingly unlikely that two of their major linchpins of recent campaigns will feature in the opening day trip to Tynecastle Park.

 

 

Club captain James Tavernier is being heavily linked with a move to Turkey while defender and vice-captain Connor Goldson has reportedly travelled to Cyprus to undergo a medical ahead of a proposed move to Aris Limassol.

 

Goldson, 31, looks set to bring the curtain down on his six-year stint at Ibrox this summer with manager Philippe Clement prepared to allow one of the club’s biggest wage earners to depart in order to free up funds for further new arrivals.

The centre-back has made more than 300 appearances for Rangers and, with two years left on his contract, will command a reasonable transfer fee. Goldson could be joined out the Ibrox exit door by his defensive side-kick Tavernier, who was the subject of a failed bid from Trabsonzspor at the end of last week.

Reports in Turkey claim that Besiktas, who appointed former Gers boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst as their new head coach last month, are set to enter the race for the English right-back with Trabsonzspor also said to be preparing an improved offer.

 

Tavernier, who turns 33 in October, missed Rangers’ pre-season defeat to Manchester United at Murrayfield on Saturday but assistant manager Alex Rae inisisted there was “nothing to report” with regards an imminent exit.