Report: Celtic battle Chelsea for Richmond Boakye after stunning 2017

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Prolific Partizan Belgrade striker Richmond Boakye is a man in demand with Celtic, Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Swansea City all keen.

You don’t score 30 goals in a calendar year without earning plenty of admiration from across the footballing world. According to The Mail, Richmond Boakye’s electric form in 2017 has earned him no shortage of admirers.

The report claims that Chelsea will send scouts to watch the Ghana striker in action for Partizan Belgrade against Arsenal in the Europa League next week at the demand of manager Antonio Conte- who was in charge of Juventus while Boakye was earning rave reviews in the Serie A giant’s reserve team.

And the Mail adds that Crystal Palace, Swansea City and Scottish champions Celtic are also running the rule over the 24-year-old.

Boakye only joined Partizan on a permanent basis in the summer after an impressive loan spell in the second half of 2016/17. The 6ft 1ins forward moved to Serbia on a free after his parent club, Serie B side Latina, went bankrupt and were forced to start again in the regional leagues.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has indicated that the Glasgow giants would scour some of the world’s more unexplored markets for under-the-radar talent and Boakye certainly falls into that category.

The striker has had eight different clubs since making his senior debut with Genoa in 2010 but has found a home in Belgrade. He scored 16 goals in just 19 games in the second half of last season and has a further 11 in 17 in 2017/18.

Boakye has also scored six in 12 for Ghana. A potential problem for Celtic, however, is that GhanaSoccerNet claims Partizan would demand £10 million.

However, Rodgers has indicated in the past that Celtic would be willing to break their transfer record, which currently stands at £6 million, for the right player, as reported by the Scottish Sun.