Report: Celtic to open £1.5m international midfielder talks, £20,000-a-week deal on table
By Alex Stevens
Galatasaray will offer Stefan Johansen a £20,000-a-week deal to entice him from Celtic this summer, according to a report.
The Scottish Sun claim Norway midfielder has been placed on a list of targets by the Turkish giants.
It is said Galatasaray are poised to step up their interest in Johansen with a bid in excess of £1.5million.
They are also willing to offer Johansen, whose Celtic deal expires in the summer of 2017, a lucrative £1million-a-year contract.
It is said that Celtic are now ready to cash in on the midfield enforcer amid the contract stalemate and hope to use interest from a number of team around Europe to recoup a sizeable fee.
There is also strong interest in new Norway captain Johansen, 25, from several German Bundesliga teams.
But it is reported that Galatasaray manager Jan Olde Riekerink is aware of the midfielder’s situation and could test Celtic’s resolve in the coming weeks.
Johansen has been a key figure in the Celtic midfield since his January 2014 transfer from Stromgodset.
He has scored an impressive 19 goals in 113 matches for the Hoops from midfield and made 40 appearances for the club in the 2015-16 season.
The Scottish giants have already sanctioned the departures of Anthony Stokes, Carlton Cole, Stefan Scepovic and Colin Kazim-Richards and Brendan Rodgers has made it clear that he wants the clearout to continue as he prepares for the team’s entry to the Champions League qualifiers later this month.