Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has confirmed the club are closing in on a loan deal for Manchester City defender Jahmai Simpson-Pusey.
The 19-year-old centre-back is in Glasgow to finalise a season-long stay with the Scottish champions, who kick off their William Hill Premiership campaign at home to St Mirren on Sunday.
The England youth international made six first-team appearances for City last season after featuring against Celtic in a pre-season friendly. When asked about the defender, Rodgers said: “A very gifted young player.
Jahmai Simpson-Pusey looks on during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD5 match between Manchester City and Feyenoord at Etihad Stadium. (Photo by GSI/Icon Sport via Getty Images)
“Obviously, coming through the system there at Manchester City, his profile fits very much what we want from our centre-halves. He’s quick, he’s dominant, he’s a good defender and of course, at Celtic, your centre-halves need to be able to progress the ball and that’s a big strength of his.
“So we’ve taken him on loan for a year. We always need all our centre-halves at Celtic. We play so many games, so many intense games and he’ll join our squad. He’s obviously a little bit behind because he hasn’t played so many games over the course of pre-season but we’ve brought him through for the rest of the season and hopefully we can close that one out.”
Meanwhile, Jack Grealish’s hunt for a new club has continued despite the England international being linked with the likes of Seria A champion Napoli.
Grealish has not join the rest of Pep Guardiola’s team in training as he’s been asked to train alone until he gets a new team.
The England international has also been linked with David Moyes’ Everton but none of the clubs have been able to reach an agreement with Manchester City.
While Manchester City will prefer a permanent sale, Grealish’s current salary has reportedly been a stumbling block and clubs only want a loan deal without an option to buy.
