The Hoops failed to land Frosinone attacker Fares Ghedjemis in the winter window
Fares Ghedjemis of Frosinone (Image: Getty Images)
Celtic have been told that Fares Ghedjemis could be available next summer after a late January move for the Frosinone star fell through.
The forward joined the Serie B club from FC Rouen in 2024 and has been in fine form this season, scoring 12 times to help keep his team in the hunt for promotion back to Serie A.
With eight games remaining, Frosinone are just three points off league leaders Venezia and are in joint-second spot with Monza, with the runner’s up in the division also securing automatic promotion to Italy’s top tier.
Ghedjemis – who was born in France but is in line to win his first cap for Algeria at senior level this week – was pursued by the Hoops in the winter window, but his club held out by demanding a reported fee of £8.6million.
On a frantic deadline day, Martin O’Neill’s side were eventually able to secure some attacking reinforcements with the loan signings of Tomas Cvancara, Junior Adamu and Joel Mvuka but fans are still crying out for a regular goal scorer at the top end of the pitch.
Veteran striker Kelechi Iheanacho has failed to make an impact since his arrival last summer while £5million signing Michel-Ange Balikwisha has featured just once since the middle of October.
Ghedjemis, 23, will be a free agent at the end of the season when his contract expires, although Frosinone are said to retain an option to extend his deal for a further two years.
And while he has revealed his client personally turned down an approach to leave the club in January because he wants to ensure his team seal promotion to Sere A, Ghedjemis’ representative has hinted that Frosinone will renew his contract with the view to ensuring they get a good fee from Celtic or any other potential buyers this summer.
Speaking to TUTTOMercatoWeb, Fabrizio Ferrari said: “The renewal? It was an option already present in the contract signed with Frosinone that it was their right to exercise.
“The market rumours about him in January? He really wanted to finish the season with a promotion. This was the boy’s intention, with Frosinone then potentially monetising the operation in the summer.”
Follow Record Sport on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for all of the up-to-the minute breaking news, video and audio on the SPFL, the Scotland national team and beyond.
You can get all the news you need on our dedicated Celtic page and sign up to our newsletters to make sure you never miss a beat throughout the season.
We’re also on WhatsApp where we bring all the latest breaking news and transfer gossip directly to you phone. Join our Celtic community here.
Tune in to Hotline Live every Sunday to Thursday and have your say on the biggest issues in Scottish football and listen to Record Sport’s newest podcast, Game On, every Friday for your sporting fix, all in bitesize chunks.
Get more Daily Record exclusives by signing up for free to Google’s preferred sources. Click HERE.