Celtic pair Brendan Rodgers and Dedryck Boyata have been linked with the Parkhead exit in the last few months.
Fulham have taken everyone by surprise on Wednesday by confirming that Claudio Ranieri has been appointed as manager in the same announcement that noted Slavisa Jokanovic’s sacking.
It has put a number of Premier League sides on alert with the Cottagers currently propping up the table, but it also potentially has significance for sides outside of England’s top flight – perhaps including Celtic.
The announcement itself was a surprise, but Jokanovic’s departure is probably not a huge shock given the speculation that was surrounding his position in recent weeks.
The Telegraph reported last week that Ranieri was a contender, but in the same sentence, they mentioned that Fulham are also fond of Hoops boss Brendan Rodgers. However, it was also noted that the potential cost of luring him away from Parkhead was always going to make an approach difficult.
Of course, now that position is filled, the Celtic board do not need to worry about a potential move from Fulham threatening to derail the fantastic work that Rodgers is doing at the moment.
Boyata’s contract situation means that there remains a question mark lingering over his future, but Jokanovic’s exit potentially takes Fulham out of the equation for the time-being.
And while there could potentially be some way to go, perhaps Ranieri eyeing his own targets could end up pushing the centre-back slightly closer to agreeing that new Celtic contract that many of the Parkhead faithful are desperate to see signed.
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