'It's no secret': Club chief claims 'massive' Celtic want his £3m star

Bnei Yahuda star Ismaila Soro could reportedly be heading to the Scottish Premiership – can he replace Scott Brown at Neil Lennon’s Celtic?

Neil Lennon, Interim manager of Celtic looks on ahead of the Ladbrokes Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Rangers at Celtic Park on March 31, 2019 in Glasgow, Scotland.

Celtic are interested in signing £3 million Bnei Yahuda midfielder Ismaila Soro, the Israeli club’s chief Barak Obramov has told the Daily Record.

It was the Record who broke the news at the start of December that a 21-year-old Ivorian was on the radar of the Scottish Premiership champions.

And while comparisons were immediately drawn with Eboue Kouassi, another Ivory Coast youngster who flopped at Parkhead after a big-money move, the highly-rated Soro looks like a risk worth taking.

A tough-tackling central midfielder, the Israel-based starlet is not only an excellent ball-winner but a player who can start attacks as efficiently as he breaks them up with his forceful running style and dribbling skills.

Comparisons with Chelsea’s World Cup winner N’Golo Kante do not look a million miles wide of the mark.

And with speculation swirling about his future, Obramov has now taken the unusual step of admitting that he would understand if Soro had his head turned by the prospect of playing in front of a sea of green at one of Europe’s best supported clubs.

NGolo Kante of Chelsea in action during the UEFA Champions League group H match between Chelsea FC and Lille OSC at Stamford Bridge on December 10, 2019 in London, United Kingdom.

“It’s no secret that Celtic are very interested in Ismaila,” he said. “When such a massive club with so many thousands of fans want to sign you, it would be very hard to keep him at a small club like Bnei Yehuda.

“But at the same time I would stress we have yet to receive a formal offer from Celtic.”