Celtic hoping to beat Sunderland and West Ham to out-of-favour striker Bellamy
By Stephen Mcgowan
Last updated at 11:15 PM on 3rd July 2011
Celtic will this week ask Manchester City to name their price for Welsh firebrand striker Craig Bellamy.
Parkhead chief executive Peter Lawwell is awaiting the return from holiday of key management figures at the FA Cup holders, while Bellamy himself is due to return from a charity trip to Sierra Leone.
The Scottish Cup winners want a 12-month loan deal similar to that struck with Newcastle for Bellamy in 2005. The striker has a year remaining on his existing deal and Sunderland, West Ham and Cardiff City are also in the running for his signature.
Speaking after Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Central Coast Mariners in Sydney’s Olympic Stadium, Neil Lennon laughed off talk of a new Bellamy move, branding it ‘speculation.’
Sportsmail understands, however,Bellamy has been top of his wanted list from the start, alongside Reading’s Shane Long.
A £7million price tag has wrecked any chance of signing Long. And while Manchester City are desperate to offload Bellamy, they want a permanent deal and a £4m fee.
Celtic’s preference for a loan also faces obstacles in City’s insistence they will no longer subsidise the player’s £80,000-a week wage. Last season, Cardiff paid just £20,000 towards a quarter of the striker’s salary — a deal the Abu Dhabi-based owners of the Manchester club will not repeat.
‘We’re looking at goalkeepers and centre-forwards but there’s nothing to report at the moment until I speak to Peter about developments,’ said Lennon.
Former strike target Omer Damari yesterday joined Hapoel Tel-Aviv in a £1.5m deal.
Norwegian Erik Huseklepp is also reported to be back on the radar following his doomed move to relegated and financially-troubled Bari.
An Italian agent claims Celtic have re-ignited their interest — despite Huseklepp employing prominent Norwegian Rune Hauge to seal him a move.
‘There is no danger that Erik Huseklepp will not get a good club,’ stated Hauge yesterday.
Lennon also acknowledged his interest in Jay Bothroyd, said to be seeking £50,000 a week. ‘He’s in the mix but there’s no more on that.’
Australian target Mustafa Amini was ruled out of Saturday’s defeat with an injury, wrecking Lennon’s chances of taking a look at him close range.
Lennon, meanwhile, dismissed talk of a rift with Niall McGinn following the axed winger’s Twitter outburst. The 23-year-old was one of just two senior players left behind when the squad flew to Australia for a three-game pre-season tour.
And the Northern Ireland international hit back on Twitter, saying: ‘Raging I’m not going to Australia. Haven’t been selected in the 23-man squad folks, so just got to work hard in training.’
But Lennon explained: ‘Niall was late coming in because he was on international duty and we were only ever taking 23 players here with us anyway. ‘I’ll speak to him when I get back but he’ll be involved in the games before the season starts.’
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