It looks like Joe Aribo will be ditching Celtic and will join Steven Gerrard’s Rangers sometime this week. But Neil Lennon might have already found a replacement in the form of Jose Cifuentes.
Jose Cifuentes currently plays in the LigaPro for CD America but if everything goes well then the midfielder should be playing in the United Kingdom next season.
Man City were the first to lay their eyes on the 20-year-old talent and up until now, Pep Guardiola’s side are the favourites to land him during the summer transfer window.
But some reports claim that Celtic might just be able to leapfrog over Man City and secure the services of Jose Cifuentes.
As things stand, Man City will immediately not get any a work permit for the Ecuadorian which is why the Premier League outfit are planning to send him out on loan for the upcoming season to La Liga side Girona.
But thankfully, Scotland does not have such strict laws which means if Cifuentes joins Celtic then he will be able to play in the Premiership next season itself.
The Scottish Sun are claiming that the midfielder will be available for a price of around £2.5 million which is an amount both the clubs will very readily pay.
So now it all comes to the player himself.
Does he wish to play straightaway in England or spend a loan season in Spain and then get to work under Pep Guardiola – who is without a doubt one of the best football managers right now.
It is still unclear what the midfielder will decide but some experts feel that the sensible option will be to choose Man City over Celtic given that he is only 20 years old.
Others though argue that he should move to Parkhead this summer and then cement his place in Scotland next season so that he can command a first-team role in any top club in the near future.
