Burnley are reportedly interested in signing Jozo Simunovic from Celtic in the summer transfer window.
According to The Scottish Sun, Burnley are interested in signing Simunovic from Celtic this summer.
It has been reported that the Premier League outfit are lining up a £10 million bid for the 23-year-old central defender.
Former Celtic striker Hartson has explained why the Glasgow giants cannot afford to sell the youngster, who joined the Hoops from Dinamo Zagreb in the summer of 2015 for a transfer fee reported by The Daily Mail to be worth £3m.
“We talk about Celtic’s defence – they’d not conceded a goal in the qualifiers until Astana away,” Hartson told BBC Sport.
“Who is Brendan going to get in now at this stage? You cannot sell Simunovic, because you can’t leave yourselves short of centre-backs. They can’t lose him.
“Boyata is injured, Sviatchenko is injured, you can’t play Bitton against the Barcelonas of the world. It’d be ludicrous to sell Simunovic.”
Celtic need to keep hold of Simunovic as they cannot afford to lose another central defender.
There have been injury problems at the back for the Hoops already this season, and for the Scottish Premiership giants to be successful this season, they need to have depth in their squad.
A transfer fee of £10m would be hugely tempting, but Celtic would struggle to get an able replacement, even if Rivaldo Coetzee is on his way from Ajax Cape Town, according to The Daily Record.
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