Celtic and Rangers’ talks to sign star leaves club fuming and fan relationship broken

Rangers and Celtic have both been accused of trying to unsettle a player behind the scenes, with the club in question left fuming at the approach taken by the two Glasgow giants and insisting the relationship between the player and supporters has been left in a difficult place as a result.

Both Old Firm sides are back in action on Wednesday, with Rangers hosting St Mirren and Celtic away at St Johnstone, before domestic focus shifts entirely to the two of them going head-to-head at the weekend for the first time this season.

Celtic have been superb domestically so far this term despite their heartbreak out in Austria. The Hoops were relegated to Europa League status – where they will face Ferencvárosi TC next week – but have won every Premiership game and will fly into the weekend’s League Cup quarter-final full of confidence.

Rangers have had a slightly bumpier ride in Derek McInnes’ early days, but three wins on the bounce across all competitions has restored some faith following their own European disaster.

There are injuries to contend with as well. Rangers will be without Lawrence Shankland and Youssef Chermiti, who are both long term absentees, while questions about Daisuke Yokota’s fitness is another blow to McInnes’ attacking depth.

Celtic have their own concern over Yang Hyun-jun, with the key creative outlet set to take part in the Asian Games for South Korea and miss the next four matches, returning in October.

Celtic and Rangers embroiled in Ghedjemis controversy

Both sides worked hard to overhaul their attacking ranks during the summer, with Celtic splashing out more than £22m on Kasper Hogh, Camilo Duran and Haissem Hassan while the Gers made Kim Min-su and Kevin Kelsy two of their three biggest signings of all time, but one man they both missed out on was Frosinone’s Fares Ghedjemis – and it’s fair to say the Italian club’s president isn’t happy with how they went about trying to get him.

Celtic were the first of the pair to move for Ghedjemis, opening talks back in January, though the Algerian rejected any suggestion of leaving with Frosinone still chasing Serie A promotion at the time. He got his wish, and after achieving that goal, both Rangers and Celtic returned for him in the summer – Rangers with a reported €10m offer, and Celtic said to have offered around €6m.

Frosinone turned down both approaches, and president Maurizio Stirpe has since gone public with his frustration at how the Scottish pair handled things, via Sport Witness.

“As for Ghedjemis, if it were up to me, I would have sold him. We wouldn’t have had the opportunity to keep a player like that. Ghedjemis stayed at Frosinone because, stubbornly, Clara Vista wanted him to stay. We owe them all that he stayed,” he said this week.

“The welcome we saw from the fans at the stadium is pleasing, but the relationship needs to be rebuilt properly and on a more solid foundation.

“Other clubs, like Rangers, Celtic, and Besiktas, haven’t been as honest, and when they approached us, they made inadequate offers. If we didn’t sell Ghedjemis in January for €6m, why would we do it in Serie A for €9m? Who owns his contract?

For now, Ghedjemis remains a Frosinone player and is back involved in Stirpe’s plans, with his stock now rising in Serie A – he’s only played twice this season due that rocky summer saga but has already registered an assist.

That’s unlikely to make either Rangers or Celtic feel any better about how close they came – and how the approach was handled – with Sport Witness reporting the price will likely be next higher next time they come calling.