Sporting director hints exciting youngster could be sold after Celtic swap talks

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Celtic want Malick Thiaw and Schalke haven’t completely closed the door on a potential summer exit for the young defender.

The Bhoys have secured Cameron Carter-Vickers on a permanent basis but Celtic will still want another central defender.

Strangely, Celtic and Schalke have been intertwined this summer.

Schalke didn’t sign defender Ko Itakura despite a successful loan spell and Celtic showed an interest before his move to Borussia Monchengladbach.

Schalke then targeted Celtic defender Christopher Jullien but that deal fell through and they have instead signed Maya Yoshida.

Celtic want Malick Thiaw

The third name is youngster Thiaw.

Calciomercato reported last week that Celtic had opened talks for Thiaw’s signature but it involved Jullien going the other way.

That part of the deal may now be off but Celtic may well still fancy bringing Thiaw to Glasgow this summer.

Thiaw, 20, was in the ranks at Fortuna Dusseldorf, Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Monchengladbach before joining Schalke in 2015.

A regular with the Germany Under-21’s, Thiaw has now made 58 first-team appearances for Schalke and was vital in the promotion-wining campaign last season.

Celtic now appear to have been attracted to Thiaw, who can play for Germany, Finland or Senegal on the international stage.

Thiaw has been linked with Premier League clubs in years gone by but Celtic seem to have real hope of a rather exciting move.

Schalke are up against it financially and they haven’t completely ruled out selling the defender this summer.

Schalke’s sporting director Rouven Schroder has now told WAZ that no players are simply not for sale at Schalke.

Schroder did suggest that Thiaw fits well in the Bundesliga and Schalke like him, but a move is still possible this summer with Celtic interested.

“There is no such thing as an abrupt no. We have always said that we will deal with offers that come in,” said Schroder. “If the overall theme fits, we’ll also think about it. Malick is here and I think he suits us very well in the Bundesliga. Nevertheless, he is of course in demand because of the Under-21s and his performances,” he added.