Scottish Premiership champions Celtic are reported to have agreed a £1.6m fee with Hapoel Be’er Sheva for the Israel international defender.
Celtic appear to be on the verge of making Hatem Abd Elhamed their fourth signing of the summer after Hapoel Be’er Sheva’s manager, Barak Bakhar, all but confirmed that the Israel international is heading to Glasgow, in quotes reported by the Scottish Sun.
Nicky Hammond has made a real impression since replacing Lee Congerton as Celtic’s director of football.
Over £10 million has been spent this summer already with giant centre-back Christopher Jullien, rampaging left-back Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo and Irish wonder-kid Luka Connell all arriving at Parkhead.
Next on Hammond’s list; a versatile 28-year-old capable of playing at centre-half, defensive midfield and in Celtic’s problem position – right-back.
The Sun claims that Abd Elhamed has agreed a £1.6 million move to Scotland with the Hoops set to hand him a four-year contract worth £7,000-a-week.
And Bakhar has now admitted that the speculation is in fact spot on. Yet, reading between the lines, he seems to accuse Abd Elhamed of chasing the money, even if £7,000-a-week is hardly a monstrous wage ‘in this day and age.
“It’s natural that Hatem will go to a big club like Celtic that pays him a lot of money,” he said.
It will be interesting to see where Celtic manager Neil Lennon plans to use Abd Elhamed but, given that he has lost three right-backs already this summer, his defensive awareness and impressive accelerations means he could make himself right at home on the flank.
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