Celtic thought they were closing in on a move for Eddie Howe – but there could yet be a twist in the tale.
Howe has emerged as Celtic’s first-choice candidate to replace Neil Lennon following his resignation back in February.
The Scottish Sun reported earlier this week that Celtic were looking to appoint Howe by the end of the week, having confidence that a deal was close despite a slight complication.
Howe wanted Bournemouth’s Richard Hughes brought in as director of football, a move that Celtic seemingly weren’t on board with from the off.
Still, Celtic hoped to have Howe on board soon, and it has been telling that no new names have been linked with the post over the last week.
However, Sky Sports now claim that Howe’s representatives have made it clear that Howe is not close to joining any club and won’t return to football until the summer.
Talks of a deal with Celtic are described as being ‘extremely premature’, and Howe has attracted ‘significant interest’ having been out of work for almost a year now.
So what next? Well, you’d assume that Howe is still the favourite for the job, and if Celtic are happy for John Kennedy to see out the season, then maybe this update isn’t all that much of a blow.
Yet with other interest claimed, Celtic won’t want to miss out on their top target, and also won’t want to be left waiting for months without a commitment, so there is much to think about now.
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