Celtic were heavily linked with Royal Antwerp star Aurelio Buta last summer – but he’s now set to join Rangers’ Europa League final opponents Eintracht Frankfurt.
Celtic were in the market for a right back last summer and were heavily linked with a host of potential signings.
Buta was one of them as the Bhoys reportedly explored a deal to bring the Portuguese talent to Glasgow.
The Daily Record reported in August that Celtic actually had a £3million bid for Buta accepted.
However, no deal for Buta was done and Celtic instead went and signed Croatian defender Josip Juranovic from Legia Warsaw.
Juranovic has impressed for Celtic this season and Bhoys fans will certainly feel that the club got it right by signing him over Buta.
Buta ended up staying with Antwerp and has notched three assists in 17 games this season.
The 25-year-old is still very highly regarded and has regularly shown his blistering pace up the right flank.
Transfer insider Fabrizio Romano has now taken to Twitter to claim that Buta is earning his big move after all.
Eintracht Frankfurt have a ‘full agreement’ to sign Buta on a free transfer with his Antwerp contract coming to an end this summer.
Buta is allegedly signing a four-year deal with Frankfurt and will be looking to shine in Germany having already proven himself in Belgium.
That’s a fascinating turn of events for Buta as he will now be joining Frankfurt, the team who face Rangers in the Europa League final.
Buta of course won’t be able to play in that game but he will have a close eye on how his new club fare against Rangers.
Last summer, it looked like Buta would be facing Rangers in a Celtic shirt but he will instead be rooting against them as a new Frankfurt player.
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