CELTIC boss Gordon Strachan is chasing another experienced Italian midfield player.
CELTIC boss Gordon Strachan is chasing another experienced Italian midfield player.
Having already signed Massimo Donati from AC Milan, the Parkhead boss is now looking at Cagliari's Andrea Capone, and he trained with the Celtic first team today.
Free agent Capone, released by the Sardinia club at the end of the season, may be included in the Celtic squad which heads south for pre-season games against Peterborough on Friday and QPR on Sunday.
Depending on how that goes, Capone could also joins Strachan's men when they head to America on Monday.
His agent, Fulvio Marrucco, told me at Parkhead today: "We are discussing the possibility of Andrea coming to Celtic, but we can't say more than that at the moment.
"He will be here for two or three days and he really likes the club. He is a free agent and we have interest from other clubs."
Strachan paid £7.4m for Donati and Scott Brown to bolster his midfield. He sees Capone, at 26 and six-foot, as a player who can add even more physical presence.
Capone started with his home-town team Cagliari in 1998, and has also spent time with Treviso and Sora. He wore the No.10 shirt with Cagliari and has a reputation as a dead-ball specialist.
Jerome Perez, a right-back with French Second Division Creteil, is also being linked with the SPL champions.
But a loan deal for Adam Hammill from Liverpool is unlikely. With no guarantee of first team football, the Reds will deal with a Championship club.
Strachan has made it clear he wants to splash even more cash in the 51 days before this transfer window closes.
He has spent more than £8m. But with an estimated £17m from last season's Champions League run, plus £2m from the sales of Craig Beattie and David Marshall, Celtic are determined to build from strength.
Strachan's immediate target is to negotiate the Champions League qualifier on August 14/15 and 28/29.
They received £11.2m from Uefa for reaching the last 16 for the first time last season, and had ticket sales, sponsor bonuses, and match-day merchandising on top of that.
But they were handed a golden ticket straight through to the groups.
This time Celtic must get through a qualifier. Failure would see them enter the Uefa Cup, but even another run to the final would yield only a fraction of these riches.
Seville, who lifted the Uefa Cup at Hampden in May, earned only £4.5m. And, in the same competition, Rangers earned just £370,000.
