A former reported Celtic target might be heading to the Premier League.
Celtic fans would be forgiven for not remembering much about Alireza Jahanbakhsh.
But back in 2015, the Hoops were linked with the Iran international and reportedly refused to pay the £1.5 million needed to sign him from NEC in the Eredivisie [The Scotsman].
Fast forward three years and Jahanbakhsh – who wound up joining AZ Alkmaar at the time of Celtic’s interest – is now worth a hell of a lot more and potentially heading to the Premier League.
According to The Daily Mail, the 24-year-old, who has also interested West Ham United and Leicester City, is close to joining Brighton & Hove Albion in a club-record £20 million move.
The attacker, who scored 21 goals for AZ last season, also enhanced his reputation somewhat by appearing for his country in the World Cup earlier this summer.
If Celtic geuninely did refuse to sign him then it was perhaps Ronny Deila, given the dates indicate that he was manager of the Bhoys at the time.
Worse yet, Deila wound up signing Nadir Ciftci that summer, for the same £1.5 million fee that NEC demanded for Jahanbakhsh, so in hindsight it is looking like a dreadful decision, given that the Turkish striker only managed 12 Premiership games for the Parkhead side.
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