Has £3m Billel Omrani missed chance to become Celtic’s top January target?

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Scottish Premiership champions Celtic reportedly failed with a £3m bid for CFR Cluj talisman Billel Omrani in early September.

Make no mistake, Celtic know all about Billel Omrani now.

The image of the Cluj striker scoring twice at Parkhead in August to end Celtic’s Champions League journey before it even began remains seared onto the retinas of everyone in the green half of Glasgow.

And with The Hoops set to take on the Romanian giants for the third time in just two months on Thursday in the Europa League group stages, Omrani would have been desperate to pick up where he left off at Celtic Park.

Just to add to an already intriguing subplot, GSP claimed before the transfer window slammed shut that Celtic had made a £3 million bid for the French centre-forward, who had obviously captured the imagination during that infamous 4-3 defeat at the height of the summer.

But according to the Daily Record, Omrani’s chances of featuring on Thursday have now been cast into severe doubt after he was stretchered off during Cluj’s 3-0 win against Gaz Metan on Saturday. It would be a minor miracle if the former Marseille youngster is fit to take part.

And this is not only a major blow for Cluj, who look set to lose a striker who has scored 10 goals already this season, but for Omrani too.

With Vakoun Issouf Bayo yet to fully convince despite a couple of barnstorming displays and with Leigh Griffiths still in-and-out of the team, there is a decent chance that a new striker will be on Celtic’s January hit-list. Neil Lennon has already confirmed that plans are being drawn up for the transfer window (Daily Express). Another all-action display on Scottish soil could have made Omrani the club’s number one January target.

But, in a cruel twist of fate, it seems Omrani has been denied the chance to convince Celtic that he is worth making another bid for.

It remains to be seen whether he will be ready to return by the time Lennon’s side travel to Romania later on in the group stage too.