Veljko Milosavljevic rumour from early May resurfaces as window opens

After initial reports indicated Celtic’s first bid for the player, reported to be under the £8.4m asking price, had been rejected there had been little more news forthcoming that indicated Celtic had returned to the possibility of signing the 17-year-old Serbian central defender.

However, Stephen McGowan, whilst writing in The Herald about Celtic’s targeting of Japanese left sided defender Hayato Inamura, also dropped in Red Star’s Milosavljevic as a player Celtic were also tracking –

‘Teenage Fulham striker Callum Osmand is also close to finalising a cross border move to Glasgow, while goalkeeper Ross Doohan has agreed a pre-contract move from Aberdeen as Scott Bain’s replacement.Parkhead scouts have also tracked Red Star Belgrade’s teenage defender Veljko Milosavljevic and the club are in the market for another winger in anticipation of bids for Nicholas Kühn later in the window.’

With Cameron Carter-Vickers perhaps Celtic’s only fully reliable central defensive option, particularly on the right-hand side, it would be a wise move for Celtic to look to bring in a young project to act as an initial rotation option for CCV.

Carter-Vickers has dropped out of the team on a few occasions through injury and clearly needs to have his game time managed more effectively.

Current back up option Maik Nawrocki appears unfancied by the manager and likely to move on this summer. Meanwhile Dane Murray continues to be plagued by injury despite Brendan Rodgers apparently rating the youngster as a viable squad rotation option for the season ahead.

It is also expected Stephen Welsh may leave the club this summer after spending the second half of the 24/25 season on loan with Belgian side Mechelen, and Gustaf Lagerbielke’s time with the club may also be over, after a loan season with Twente in the Netherlands has put the defender in the shop window and is now likely surplus to requirements at Celtic, in the main due to his unsuitability in playing a high defensive line.

That would certainly open some space for central defensive options in the Celtic squad, and it may well be Celtic haven’t given up on signing Veljko Milosavljevic just yet.

Milosavljevic is clearly highly thought of by his club side, as their valuation would indicate, and at just 17 years old it would be a significant outlay for Celtic to pay for one so young, but it could well be Celtic haven’t given up hope of signing the fledgling defender just yet.