Scottish Premiership champions Celtic were in talks to sign Anderlecht midfielder Adrien Trebel, who is valued at £9million.
Celtic were on the lookout for a new central midfielder in the summer transfer window once Stuart Armstrong had sealed his move to Southampton.
The Hoops’ interest in John McGinn was well documented, but one player whose links rather went under the radar is Adrien Trebel. Het Laaste Nieuws reported that Celtic were keen to sign the all-action Anderlecht midfielder but the Jupiler League club refused to let him go and rejected all offers.
Now, Trebel himself has provided his own view on the situation.
In quotes reported by HLN, the former France U20 international has admitted that Celtic, alongside FC Porto and Hertha Berlin, were indeed keen to sign him, but they were not willing to meet Anderlecht’s £9 million price-tag.
“I had options,” said Trebel, who joined Anderlecht from Standard Liege in January 2017.
“With Porto I even had a personal agreement. I was also in advanced talks with the other teams you mentioned (Celtic and Hertha) but nobody wanted to pay the asking price. I made peace with that.”
Trebel has enjoyed an impressive start to the season with Anderlecht, scoring twice and setting up three more goals in all competitions.
And the deep-lying midfielder adds that, if he was to leave Belgium in the future, he would only be tempted by one of Europe’s major leagues, suggesting that a move to Scotland or Portugal no longer appeals.
“By the way: Celtic or Porto, they are beautiful clubs, but it is not an improvement compared to Anderlecht. If I ever go, I want to go to a top competition,” he said.
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