Celtic’s Rogic is reportedly interesting Southampton, surely Chelsea’s van Ginkel would be a perfect replacement?
Celtic playmaker Tom Rogic is reportedly interesting Premier League side Southampton ahead of the summer transfer window, and Brendan Rodgers must plan for his departure.
BBC Sport claim Mark Hughes’ side want Celtic’s 25-year-old star, who has impressed this season in Rodgers’ Scottish Premiership-winning side with eight goals and eight assists despite being injured for a large chunk of the season.
He remains a crucial part of the Celtic side and showed that with Celtic’s fourth in a 5-0 win over Old Firm rivals Rangers last Sunday, in which the Hoops clinched their seventh consecutive title.
Losing Rogic is certainly a possibility, with only one year remaining on a contract that the Daily Star is worth £15,000 a week. It should prompt Rodgers into drawing up a shortlist of replacements.
At the top of that shortlist must be Chelsea star Marko van Ginkel, who has shone in PSV Eindhoven’s side this season on a season-long loan – so much so he has captained the Dutch giants to the Eredivisie title.
From midfield, the former AC Milan and Stoke City loanee has scored 16 goals in just 33 games, finally beginning to show the kind of talent that saw Chelsea lure him to Stamford Bridge from Vitesse Arnhem in 2013.
Football London claim Chelsea are willing to sell van Ginkel for a fee of £10million, and although Celtic’s current club-record transfer fee stands at £6million for both John Hartson and Chris Sutton, they must adapt to the market.
Two consecutive seasons in the Champions League group stages has given the Hoops plenty of funds in the pot, and would surely make £10million an achievable fee – especially if Celtic receive a fee for Rogic.
Losing Rogic would be a huge blow, but luring van Ginkel north of the border would be an improvement.
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