The big Celtic rumour doing the rounds yesterday was the club apparently putting in an offer for Fenerbahce goalkeeper, Dominik Livakovic.
Livakovic has been on Celtic’s radar for almost a year now as the Hoops’ plan to replace Joe Hart has seemingly been in the pipeline for a while but he chose to join Fenerbache instead.
And whilst reports from Turkey suggested that Celtic had placed a bid of €9m (£7.6m) it seems that this rumour is way off the mark.
In fact, it is so wrong that Livakovic’s PR Manager, Stipo Dubravac, has had to come out and make a statement to correct the claims.
Celtic’s Livakovic bid ‘completely false’
Livakovic had just experienced Euro 2024 pain with Croatia after a last-minute Italy goal knocked them out of the competition when the rumours broke but Dubravac was quick to dismiss them.
Dubravac said [Sportske Novosti], “Completely false. Feel free to write that we have officially denied this untruth.
“We don’t know where they got it from, there was no talk about it at all.”
Contracted to Fenerbache until 2028, the Croatian international would command a sizeable transfer fee, especially after his performances in Germany.
Last season, Livakovic kept 21 clean sheets in 47 appearances in the Super Lig as he helped his club finish just three points behind eventual league champions, Galatasaray.
With Champions League qualifiers to look forward to, I would imagine Jose Mourinho would be keen to hold onto his number-one goalkeeper unless he manages to find a replacement.
But that seems unnecessary now that Dubravac has rubbished claims of any bid from Celtic.
The Hoops supporters will need to sit tight as they wait for news on the first summer signing to arrive. With Rodgers keen to add quality, Livakovic would certainly do that.
But it seems unlikely that the Croatian international will holding a Celtic scarf above his head any time soon.