Primeira Liga champions FC Porto could reportedly offer Chancel Mbemba to Celtic as part of a deal involving Scottish Premiership star Olivier Ntcham.
Celtic could be gifted the chance to replace their want-away centre-back.
Although Brendan Rodgers has claimed that Dedryck Boyata will not be sold this month, the former Manchester City youngster is entering his final few months at Parkhead. Boyata is out of contract in the summer and now looks certain to leave on a free.
But, according to the Scottish Sun, Mbemba could arrive in his place; that is if Celtic are willing to accept Porto’s £14 million-plus-player offer for key midfielder midfielder Olivier Ntcham, however.
A £7 million signing from Newcastle United in the summer (BBC), Mbemba has struggled to impress at Porto, making just one league start, and manager Sergio Conceicao seems happy to let him go already.
But would Mbemba be a good replacement for Boyata?
Boyata enjoyed a fine 2018, impressing as Roberto Martinez’s Belgium side finished third at the World Cup before silencing his critics to produce some outstanding performances for Celtic in the first half of the current campaign.
Mbemba, however, has endured a year to forget. After falling well down the pecking order at Newcastle, the DR Congo international has been an expensive flop at Porto and he looks like something of a downgrade on paper.
Having said that, Mbemba is just 24 and Brendan Rodgers’ knack of improving players could bode well.
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