Premier League Fulham and Ligue 1 outfit Lyon were two of the clubs linked with Celtic’s Scottish Premiership champion and World Cup star Boyata.
Fulham are willing to spend big as they aim to make a splash in their first season back in the Premier League.
They have already broken their transfer record for Jean Michel Seri while making big bids for La Liga duo David Lopes and Willian Jose. And, according to the Sun, Fulham are also interested in signing Celtic defender Dedryck Boyata, who they could offer a substantial pay increase to tempt him to Craven Cottage.
Fulham’s hopes of landing the Belgian international appeared to suffer a blow, however, when Lyon emerged as a potential destination. The Ligue 1 giants have plenty of money to play with after selling centre-back Mouctar Diakhaby to Valencia and have the added advantage of offering Champions League football.
But latest reports from the Daily Record (live blog, 10.34am) will be music to the ears of Slavisa Jokanovic.
It is reported that Lyon have dropped out the race to sign Boyata as they are instead putting all of their efforts, and quite a bit of money, into signing Porto’s Mexican World Cup star Hector Herrera.
As a result, Fulham’s hopes have been boosted quite substantially. Though that is not to say a deal will be straightforward.
Boyata has just a year left on his contract and the Daily Record adds that Celtic are desperate to hold crunch talks and tie him down for the long haul.
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