Graft plus craft from Luis Palma, Celtic’s £7m Frimpong bonus

Honduran winger Luis Palma has been spending some months  on loan at Olympiacos, who in theory at least retain the option to sign him permanently. However Palma has made just two starts, and his participation in their title celebrations seemed to signal a possible goodbye for the 25-year-old.

The Athens-based club have reportedly decided not to trigger Palma’s £3.5m clause, with Greek sources indicating they have notified Celtic he will return to Glasgow once his loan ends after the Greek Cup Final against OFI Crete later this month.

Boss Jose Luis Mendilibar has given limited playing time to the Honduran international at Olympiacos, leaving his future unclear as he prepares to head back to Celtic.

He said last month: “I have already made my decisions about the players who will stay and who will go at the end of the season. And it will be very difficult for them to change my mind in the remaining games of the season.”

Palma remains under contract at Celtic Park for another three years. Luis clearly has the ability but seems to lack the necessary level of effort needed to impress Brendan Rodgers. Unless his agent can sort out a summer move for him he is faced with the prospect of being left in the wilderness at Celtic. The solution? Add graft to the craft.

Meanwhile, things are far more promising on the Frimpong front, with Liverpool – preparing for Trent Alexander-Arnold’s departure – eyeing the Bayer Leverkusen wing-back as a key target in their planned full-back overhaul.

Frimpong made the switch to Leverkusen in an £11m move from Celtic, who stand to earn 30 percent of any profit from his next transfer. If Frimpong is sold for his £34m release clause, the Hoops would pocket nearly £7m from their share of the profit, as Celtic is due a 30% share of the transfer fee profit.

Reports down south indicate that Liverpool are targeting Frimpong and Juventus’ Andre Cambiaso to strengthen both flanks of their defence next season, as left-back Kostas Tsimikas also prepares to move on.

The implications for boyhood Celtic fan Andy Robertson’s future are equally unclear as he could face a similar situation to his Scotland teammate Greg Taylor at Celtic, who has Kieran Tierney coming in this summer to jump ahead of him as first pick left-back.

Brendan Rodgers confirmed ahead of the 3-1 win over Hibs at the weekend that there is nothing new to report on the Greg Taylor contract negotiations – and less than a fortnight to go until the season ends it certainly looks like Taylor’s time at Celtic will come to an end after the Scottish Cup Final.

He’ll be a big miss.

Conor Spence

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