Boavista are braced for bids from West Ham United, Southampton and Celtic with star forward Alberth Elis keen to leave the Portuguese outfit before the end of the summer, as reported by A Bola.
For anyone who has followed this story closely over the last couple of weeks, the latest development will take absolutely nobody by surprise.
In the space of the last month, there have been three separate interviews (at our count anyway) hammering home the point: Elis is absolutely desperate to leave a side he joined from Houston Dynamo as recently as September.
In one interview, the Honudras international admitted that he expected to leave the Primeira Liga side ‘soon’.
His father, meanwhile, told journalists in his Central American homeland that English football would be a dream destination for a man who marked his debut season in Portugal with eight goals and seven assists from out wide.
“As a player you want more,” Elis added this week, in conversation with La Prensa. “If an opportunity arrives, I will take advantage of it.”
Is Alberth Elis to become Celtic’s new record signing?
You would think, then, that Elis is unlikely to slam down the phone if West Ham or Southampton come calling. And come calling they will.
According to A Bola, Boavista are expecting to receive offers in the region of £9 million from the aforementioned duo, with Brighton and Celtic also set to make an approach in the next couple of days.
The report adds that Elis’s departure is viewed as ‘unavoidable’.
Boavista need the cash too, so they are unlikely to stand in the 25-year-old’s way with just seven weeks of the transfer window remaining.
Even in this COVID-afflicted world, £9 million is hardly a bank-breaking sum for a Premier League side.
The same cannot be said about Celtic, however. Elis would become their joint-record signing should he move to Parkhead for such a fee.
Then again, if Kristoffer Ajer and Odsonne Edouard depart, the Hoops will not be short of cash with which to splash out.
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