Celtic on red alert as loan star 'made available for transfer' by South American giants after showdown talks
Boca Juniors hade made a decision over the future of full-back Marcelo Saracchi
Celtic have learned that one of their loan star’s from last season’s double-winning campaign has been frozen out and made available for a transfer or another temporary move this summer.
Argentinian giants Boca Juniors have informed defender Marcelo Saracchi that he’s not part of their plans for next season and won’t be allowed to train with the first-team squad until he is offloaded to a new club.
The 28-year-old spent last term on loan at the Scottish champions and impressed in 19 league appearances, albeit 11 of those came from off the bench. He was due to return to Buenos Aires on July 1st and report back for pre-season with his loan deal due to expire at the end of this month.
However, Boca boss Rodolfo Arruabarrena has now told Saracchi he no longer has a future at the club and will have to train on his own until he finds a new team.
That’s according to various reports in South America, who claim that Boca need to free up a place for a new foreign player in their squad. As a result, they have decided the Uruguayan left-back can be sacrificed, ensuring the ball is now firmly in Celtic’s court if they decide to pursue a deal for Saracchi.
He's already received interest from other European and MLS clubs, who are keen to land him on loan again. With Boca actively managing Saracchi’s situation, Celtic elected not to activate a €2.5m purchase clause before his time in Glasgow came to an end.
Ambitious Turkish club among interested suitors weighing up transfer swoop
That has led other interested parties to make their move, with newly-promoted Turkish side Corum FK understood to be weighing up a potential club record fee to lure him back to Europe.
Saracchi has previously played in Turkey with Galatasaray, but there has been no indication as of yet if he would be open to making a return there.
However this development is sure to come as a major boost to Celtic boss Martin O’Neill as he looks to strengthen his squad for the upcoming season. And it’s believed that preliminary discussions with Saracchi's camp have already taken place with current first-choice left-back Kieran Tierney away on World Cup duty for Scotland.
Parkhead officials could be braced to finalise a deal that could see Saracchi become the first signing of the summer, with the player understood to be eager to sort out his future as soon as possible.
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