Stuart Armstrong is expected to join Southampton and become Mark Hughes’ first summer signing, and Celtic should think about a Saints replacement.
The Northern Ireland international, who has just one year remaining on his current contract, is expected to sign a four-year deal with the south coast club, after joining Celtic in 2015.
In total Armstrong made 142 appearances for the club in all competitions, and now he is set to embark on a greater challenge in the form of the English Premier League.
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It will be a blow to lose someone of Armstrong’s ability for Celtic, and the Scottish giants will now endeavour to find a suitable replacement. But perhaps they should look no further than the club they are currently doing business with.
Southampton are taking Armstrong, so Celtic should consider asking their English counterparts for a player to go the other way.
The clubs have good relations, having done business together over Virgil van Dijk and Victor Wanyama in the past, so perhaps the Bhoys could enquire about one of Steven Davis, James Ward-Prowse or Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg to soften the blow of losing Armstrong.
Davis is an interesting one – he, of course, played for Celtic’s bitter rivals Rangers for four seasons before joining Southampton and would admittedly be the trickiest signing to make of the three names.
Mario Lemina and Oriol Romeu did not set the world alight last season but they have the potential to have strong campaigns in 2018/19, meaning Hojbjerg, who still needs to prove himself in England, could be worth an enquiry for a Celtic side on the lookout for new players.
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