Celtic + West Ham transfer boost in £12.8m chase for prolific striker as club with 'bloated wallet' enter race

It could be one club in and one club out of the race to sign reported Celtic and West Ham United target Fotis Ioannidis this summer.

Reports in Italy last week suggested that the Premiership champions and the Hammers were two clubs keen on the services of the Panathinaikos striker. Celtic signed Luis Palma from Greek side Aris last summer and moved for another Greek star in Giorgos Giakoumakis under Ange Postecoglou.

A reported asking price of £12.8m could prove steep for Celtic, with Sevilla, Eintracht Frankfurt and Lazio also joining them alongside West Ham in a transfer chase. Now it has been claimed by Il Messaggero that Lazio could be holding some doubt.

It’s claimed that sporting director Angelo Fabiani has some reservations over the settling-in time necessary for Ioannidis, and whether scoring in Greece’s top flight can be translated to Serie A. If Lazio were to bow out the race, they could be replace by Dutch side PSV.

NewsPao claim a scout of the Eredivisie heavyweights was present at a recent Panathinaikos clash with AEK Athens, in which the striker scored during a 2-1 win. He has now been put on the PSV ‘agenda’ and that the Dutch side are “expected to come out with a…bloated wallet in the upcoming summer transfer window.”

Currently at Parkhead, Kyogo is the undisputed main marksman. Adam Idah is only on loan at Celtic from Norwich City until the end of the season while Oh has struggled for minutes since returning from the Asian Cup with South Korea. Ioannidis has enjoyed a prolific season with 21 goals and 7 assists in 39 games.