Celtic and Rangers free agent target open to offers after Euro 2024 heartache
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The future of reported Celtic and Rangers target Scott McKenna remains unclear after the Scotland international officially became a free agent on Monday.
The former Aberdeen defender has spent the last four years with England Premier League club Nottingham Forest after leaving Aberdeen in a reported £2.5m move to the City Ground in September 2020. After making over a century of appearances for the two-time European Cup winners, McKenna slid out of favour with Forest and joined Danish club FC Copenhagen in the final days of the January transfer window earlier this year.
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Hide AdThe 27-year-old centre-back made 15 appearances for the SuperLiga outfit and featured in both legs of their Champions League round of 16 defeat to then-holders Manchester City. However, the Danes refused to specifically comment on making a permanent move for McKenna after his temporary stint at Parken Stadium came to an end.
Copenhagen sporting director Sune Smith-Nielsen said: "His contract has expired. And our loan here expires on June 30. Right now we have to deal with that. But I don't want to comment on specific names.”
Just under four years have passed since McKenna has played in Scotland but both Rangers and Celtic have been linked with a move for his services in recent months. The race to sign the defender can officially get underway after his Forest contract came to an end over the weekend and he is now on the free agent market.
Speaking recently to Football Scotland, McKenna stressed he would not comment on speculation over where his next move could be and insisted he would ‘need to consider anything’ now he is without a club.
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Hide AdHe said: "To be honest I am open to anything. I would never rule anything out. But in terms of the speculation, that’s all it’s ever been. It has never really gone any further than that and until there is anything that’s more than that I don’t really have anything to think about. I’m without a club so I think I would need to consider anything. As I mentioned, there is nothing as of now so there is nothing to think about.”
McKenna is fresh from representing Scotland at Euro 2024 and made appearances in all three group games as Steve Clarke’s side exited the competition following their 1-0 defeat against Hungary. The defender could not hide his frustration over the early departure from the tournament and admitted it would could take months to come to terms with the disappointment.
He said: "Massively disappointed is the only way to describe the feeling in the changing room after the game. Obviously we came here wanting to win the game and try and do something a Scotland team has never done before, but it wasn't to be. I think the overriding emotion just disappointment and I think it will be like that for a while. It will take a few weeks, maybe even months to process. But it's a group of players that certainly can pick ourselves up and hopefully qualify for more tournaments."
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