Brendan Rodgers’s Celtic and Aston Villa reportedly want to sign Shane Long on loan from Southampton in the summer transfer window.

Signing Shane Long on loan from Southampton was always going to be tough for Aston Villa, and reported interest from Brendan Rodgers’s Celtic is an added complication.
Earlier this month, The Express & Star reported of Villa’s interest in signing Long from Southampton on loan in the summer transfer window.
The Birmingham Mail subsequently claimed that Villa manager Steve Bruce is not confident that the former Reading and West Bromwich Albion forward will drop down a division from the Premier League to the Championship.
Southampton manager Mark Hughes has also been quoted as saying in The Birmingham Mail that Long will be part of his squad for the 2018-19 campaign.
As if that were not enough, Scottish Premiership giants Celtic are now reported to be on the pursuit of the 31-year-old forward – who earns £60,000 per week as salary, according to Spotrac.com.

According to The Sun (print edition, page 61, Sunday, August 26, 2018), Celtic want to sign Long on loan from the Saints this summer (click here to read more).
Celtic are challenging for the Scottish Premiership title and could also feature in the Europa League, and the Hoops would be more attractive to the Southampton forward than the Villans.
Back in November 2014, Long told The Irish Independent that he is a Celtic fan, and playing for the Glasgow giants would be more appealing to him that turning out for Villa.

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