Reported £2m target starts following Celtic on Instagram; held Lennon talks this month

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Shane Duffy has started following Celtic on Instagram as speculation rages about a potential move to Parkhead for the Brighton and Hove Albion centre-back.

Fuel, meet fire.

In a time when many a fan has taken to scouring flight records and stalking social media in the hope of gaining a peak behind the curtain, Duffy’s decision to join Celtic’s 500,000-strong legion of Instagram followers was never going to fly under the radar.

The Ireland international is expected to bring an end to four years at the Amex this summer and, despite interest from a whole host of Premier League clubs, the Scottish champions appear to be in pole position.

The Scottish Mail (15 August, back page) claims that Duffy has held talks with Celtic boss Neil Lennon and would jump at the chance to join his boyhood club.

And who can blame him?

West Ham, Leeds and West Brom would happily offer the one-time Everton youngster a Premier League lifeline.

But Celtic can hand Duffy a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to add silverware to his CV, all the while playing European football for the first time in a decade.

The Hoops would have to fork out a rather sizeable £2 million loan fee to get the deal done, though that would be money well spent given that the lack of depth in the middle of the back line is an ongoing cause for concern.

Christopher Jullien and the exit-linked Kristoffer Ajer are the only senior, central defenders at Lennon’s disposal.

While Duffy is hardly the epitome of a modern-day defender, a relic of a bygone Chris Hughton era at Brighton and out of favour under Graham ‘the purist’ Potter, his excellent reading of the game could make him the most fearsome centre-back in Scotland.