Ipswich Town, Leeds United and Bolton Wanderers were among the clubs linked with a move for the Manchester City player.
Manchester City playmaker Bersant Celina
Ipswich Town appear to have seen off competition from Leeds United and Bolton Wanderers to sign Manchester City playmaker Bersant Celina on loan.
The 20-year-old told Norwegian-based NRK earlier in the week: “The plan is to play in the Championship. I’m going to try to find a club there. It will be one of them [Leeds, Ipswich or Bolton] Then we’ll see.”
But according to Sky Sports, it is Ipswich who have won the race for Celina, with a season-long deal set to be completed on Friday.
Ipswich Town manager Mick McCarthy
Celina spent the 2016-17 season in Holland with FC Twente and is now ready to test his luck on English soil, having only appeared four times for Manchester City’s first team.
The Kosovo international, who was raised in Norway, looks set to replace Tom Lawrence at Ipswich, after the Welshman – another reported Leeds target – returned to parent club Leicester City.
Former Ipswich Town loanee Tom Lawrence
Leeds appointed Thomas Chriatiansen as their new manager on Thursday, three weeks after Garry Monk’s resignation, and it’s possible that the hold up caused them to miss out on Celina.
Celina could have to soften the blow of Filipe Morais’ potential departure from Bolton, after the playmaker admitted this week that he had not heard from the club for a wile regarding an extension to his contract, which expires this month.
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