Celtic Eyeing French Centre-Back as Future Summer Signing

There are a few noticeable gaps in Celtic's squad as of this moment in time, with the club having multiple players transfer out during the summer and winter, they now need to find options to replace them. The three most prominent positions of need, at least from a perspective of talent and numbers, are striker, right winger, and centre-back.

Two of these positions have been addressed to some degree during the summer, with Callum Osmand coming in at centre-forward and Hayato Inamura coming in at centre-back, but both players are development projects, so there will be a bit of a time gap before they see substantial playing time.

The biggest question is whether or not the club will be willing to fork out a pretty substantial sum to go get someone who is ready to start from the off, or if they will continue to focus on free transfers and smaller price moves in hopes of developing them over the course of the year.

One bigger-scale move seems to be available to them at this moment in time, according to recent reports, and if they are able to compete with the other clubs involved, they could come out with a pretty high-quality player.

Which Player is Celtic in the Running for at Centre-Back?

According to a new report from Sébastien Buron of L'Equipe, Celtic are one of the multiple clubs looking into Le Havre centre-back Étienne Youté:

"Under contract until 2026 with Le Havre, Étienne Youté could soon leave the oldest club. The 23-year-old central defender is attracting interest from several European teams."

"Belgian side Anderlecht, Turkish side Besiktas, and Scottish side Celtic Glasgow are all keenly interested in this defender in need of further development. Two German clubs and two Championship teams, including Burnley, a report revealed by Fabrizio Romano that we can confirm, are also interested."

Fabrizio Romano mentioned that the price tag for this deal would be in the ballpark of €5 million, which ultimately was pretty much expected given how much he has improved in recent seasons.

While the former Inter Milan youth prospect still has much room to grow, an opportunity with Celtic would be an exceptional one for him, as he would likely get a chance at many minutes right out of the gate, and could learn from one of the best at the position in Scotland with Cameron Carter-Vickers.