Manager expects ‘phenomenal’ Celtic target to leave as Hoops agree fee

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Melbourne City appear to have resigned themselves to Marco Tilio’s departure with Scottish Premiership champions Celtic agreeing personal terms with the Australia international. 

If you were wondering how Ange Postecoglou’s departure would affect Celtic’s summer plans, then the identity of the club’s current transfer targets should answer that question rather emphatically.

Marco Tilio and Yang Hyun-Jun; two deals with Postecoglou’s fingertips all over them.

Yang is a 21-year-old winger plying his trade for K-League outfit Gangwon FC; Celtic once again raiding one of Postecoglou’s favourite watering holes. Marco Tilio, meanwhile, shares an Australian passport with the now-Tottenham Hotspur manager, the Daily Record saying that Celtic have ‘agreed a fee’ with Melbourne City. 

Tilio, capped five times by the Socceroos, is part of a Melbourne City side who have now claimed the A-League title for three straight seasons. The diminutive forward scored 10 goals and set up six more during an outstanding 2022/23 campaign, form that has City coach Rado Vidosic particularly pessimistic over his short-term future. 

Celtic agree fee to sign Marco Tilio

“I doubt we will be able to keep him,” Vidosic sighs, speaking to Fox Sports. “He had a fantastic season for us.” 

Tilio, included in last term’s A-League Team of the Season, appears to combine the footwork and elegance of Jota with the speed and directness of a Daizen Maeda. He can play on either flank and is a fearsome striker of the ball with his left boot.

“He has that confidence. Why? Because technically, he is fantastic. His dribbling? Superb,” former Aussie striker Bruce Djite tells Network 10. 

“You what I love when I watch him dribble? He is always looking up. He isn’t looking at the ball. This is a 21-year-old player with the world at his feet. He really can go on and do something special, and I love the mentality. 

“He’s at the right club. He is performing very, very well. He has just been to a World Cup (in Qatar). A phenomenal, phenomenal player.” 

Tilio could become Celtic’s second summer signing after Odin Thiago Holm. A deal for fellow forward Yang, however, appears in doubt as Gangwon refuse to cash in midway through the ongoing Korean league season.