Celtic interested in signing 24-year-old outcast , player wants Premier League move

Celtic will reportedly look to complete a Bosman move for 24-year-old Real Madrid outcast Andriy Lunin, who wants to join a Premier League club.

According to a report by Football Insider, Andriy Lunin is the subject of interest from Celtic. The Scottish Premiership champions want to complete a Bosman move for the Real Madrid outcast in the 2024 summer transfer window. But the 24-year-old is keen on joining a Premier League club when he leaves Los Blancos.

Andriy Lunin has endured a frustrating spell at Real Madrid since arriving from Zorya Luhansk in July 2018. The Ukrainian international was one of the best young goalkeeping prospects in the world when he arrived at the Santiago Bernabeu. But Thibaut Courtois’s presence meant he could never get a sustained run between the sticks.

Loan spells at three Spanish clubs have not paved the way for progress in Lunin’s career either. To make matters worse, the 24-year-old remains the backup goalkeeper for Real Madrid despite Courtois’s absence due to a long-term knee injury. Los Blancos instead signed Kepa Arrizabalaga to cover for Courtois, with the Spaniard being the first-choice goalkeeper for them.

The disgruntled shot-stopper has managed only 180 minutes of game time across two games thus far this season. The situation has left Lunin frustrated, and a departure in 2024 is on the cards. Meanwhile, Real Madrid will not have any bargaining power, with the player entering the final year of his contract.

Recent reports have claimed that Lunin wants to leave Real Madrid in the January transfer window. Meanwhile, there is no shortage of interest in the 24-year-old, with Celtic joining the race to sign him. But the Scottish Premiership champions want to secure Lunin’s services in a Bosman move next summer.

Joe Hart is the current first-choice goalkeeper at Celtic. But the veteran shot-stopper is in the final year of his contract. So, it is hardly surprising that the Scottish giants are scouring the market for goalkeepers. Lunin is thus a viable target for Celtic. But the report claims that he wants to join a Premier League club when he leaves Real Madrid.

Reports have not linked many Premier League clubs with the 24-year-old Real Madrid outcast. So, it will be interesting to see if any English top-flight suitors emerge in the race to secure Lunin’s services. For now, a move to Celtic seems the likeliest outcome for the Ukrainian international.

Tommy Callaghan insists 1974 Atleti crop were a ‘disgrace’ to the game as they booted Jimmy Johnstone off the park.

Tommy Callaghan believes the reappearance of Atletico Madrid’s 1974 shame game replica strip should be like a red rag to a bull for Celtic.

The Hoops legend cast his mind back 49 years to an infamous night at Parkhead and needed no reminders of the Spaniards having three players sent off in a European Cup semi-final where they took turns to boot Jimmy Johnstone black and blue. As a reunion of the clubs takes place tomorrow in a Champions League clash, Callaghan walked Record Sport down memory lane and insisted there will always be a black stain on football by a side who were a disgrace to the game.

He said: “It was a game and a half, I don’t remember many games that far back but this was a game I will never forget and it was all down to how Atletico played the game. I think their left back was released from jail to allow him to play that night.

“His name was Ruben Diaz and he was an absolute thug and his job was to keep Wee Jinky up in the air all night, he booted him stupid all game. It was the most brutal game I ever took part in, it was disgusting.

“It was one of the games from my career which still leaves a sour taste in my mouth. I’ll never forget it and it’s not for anything good.”

Celtic fans will look back at the footage of Johnstone being targeted by a stream of over the ball challenges and Callaghan remembers the winger going back and asking for more.

He said: “To be fair to Jimmy, he didn’t shirk things one bit. He would get the ball, he would get booted into the air to get the foul and immediately he would be back demanding the ball again and he would run at them. He told us to keep giving him the ball, he was fearless. He was unbelievable for us in that game, most players would chuck it and want to get straight out of there but he was the opposite, he just kept going at them.

“That was just the way he was, it was in his nature and personality as he loved that as he knew he had the beating of them all.

“The Atletico players were taking it in turns to kick him, they would line up and be waiting for him.”

That 1974 encounter is also recalled by Callaghan as one of his easiest for the club and it was due to the fact all hell was breaking loose on the opposite side of the park and he admitted he had to run for cover when the referee blew for full-time.

He said: “It was one of the quietest games I played for Celtic as I was on the left side and all of the action and incident was taking place on the other flank. It seemed to me that the game wasn’t being played down my left side at all as the Spaniards were all just after wee Jimmy.

“They had three players sent off and if another one was red carded then the game would have been abandoned.

“After the game there was a wee skirmish inside the tunnel where everyone wanted a punch at one another but I was hiding when all of that started. I retreated to the dugout where I bumped into an Atletico player and he was huge, thankfully he just shrugged his shoulders and walked away.”

Celtic would lose 2-0 in the return leg and there were reports of death threats towards boss Jock Stein and Johnstone prior to flying to Spain and Callaghan revealed Atletico had a bit of the beauty and beast about them and admitted the trip to Madrid was about being mob handed when the players went for a stroll.

He said: “One of the sad things about this episode is that Atletico were actually a fine footballing team. They could play some superb football when they wanted to but they were also masters of the dark arts. They were Jekyll and Hyde, they could be a completely different team.

“There was a lot of talk about Celtic not playing the second-leg and that we were going to take it all the way with the European officials. There were death threats before we went to Spain and a few things like that did happen which was awful.

“Once we landed in Spain the atmosphere was terrible. We were guarded inside our hotel and if we decided to go out for a walk then we would go out in groups of 15. We were told not to go out on our own, we hadn’t to answer any phones in the hotel rooms and the atmosphere around this game was terrible. We had to keep an eye on our rooms and take precautions over things which had the potential to turn nasty. It was horrible.”

Callaghan will be at Celtic Park tomorrow night and he is praying some justice is served on Diego Simeone’s side even if plenty of water has passed under the bridge.

He said: “That game is now part of Celtic’s history but it would be great for the current side to win against them in a match which is remembered for all of the right reasons.

“You talk about Spanish football and the quality of players and Atletico had an unbelievable squad but that night they chose to stop us playing and the man they went for was wee Jimmy. Hr ended up black and blue from top to bottom.

“It would be wonderful for us to get a result and you don’t want to cause any issues before the game but Celtic get a result then I will be absolutely over the moon.”