Ex-Celtic striker ‘grilled’ over his boyhood club as Everton ‘urged’ to sign former Rangers star

Celtic are in high spirits after their convincing 5-1 victory over St. Mirren that kept their nine point lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership intact. The clash in Glasgow featured four different goalscorers for the home side, Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate (x2), Oh Hyeon-gyu and Matt O’Riley all finding the back of the net.

Meanwhile, Rangers still aren’t letting the title race escape them as they won their seventh consecutive league match as they came out 3-1 winners over Kilmarnock. The two rivals will face the two Edinburgh clubs this week, with Celtic hosting Hearts this evening while Rangers travel to Hibs.

Here are the latest headlines ahead of the Scottish Premiership fixtures...

Robbie Keane on his Celtic support

Robbie Keane has confirmed his support for Celtic after Robbie Fowler joked about the striker’s undying love for so many teams. After playing for eleven clubs during his playing career, Keane would often describe signing for a new side as a ‘dream come true’, while he even admitted joining LA Galaxy in 2011 was a life-long ambition.

Speaking on the We are Liverpool podcast, Fowler had laughed with Keane about whether he really supported Celtic due to his previous remarks with his past clubs. The former Reds man said: “We’ve all read the interviews, when you signed for Liverpool you were a supporter growing up, when you signed for Celtic you were a supporter growing up, when you signed for LA you were an LA fan.”

Keane - who spent six months on loan at Celtic in 2010 - reiterated his love and support for the Scottish club after growing up as a fan. He said: “I can never understand this! In Ireland, you are brought up, as in like, you are given Celtic. That is just the way it is.

“And there you always have an English team, that is completely normal in Ireland. You ask anyone, you’d have loads of Liverpool fans now going to watch Celtic games, so that thing of being a fan grew legs.

“You are brought up Celtic, you are actually given Celtic, and then you pick your team in England. It was great, it’s a fantastic club, playing in front of them fans is hard to describe.

“Liverpool and Celtic fans are very, very similar, in terms of the atmosphere and noise in the games. It was a really great experience that I really enjoyed, I was only there a few months, but having the opportunity to play for Celtic was great.”

Keane played for a host of clubs across the UK during his career including Leeds United, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool, while he also spent brief spells with Inter Milan and ATK.

Everton ‘urged’ to sign Bassey

Everton have been urged to sign Ajax defender Calvin Bassey by Dutch reporter Pieter Zwart.

Bassey became a well-known figure during his two-year stint with Rangers as he impressed in their backline, in particular as they reached the Europa League semi-finals last season. The Nigeria international was quickly snapped up by Ajax for a club-record fee of around £20 million, however he has struggled to have quite the same impact in Amsterdam.

Despite making 34 appearances in all competitions for Ajax this season, Bassey has been rather inconsistent and it looks increasingly unlikely that he will be able to live up to expectations with the Dutch giants. Zwart has urged Ajax to ‘grab money’ for the defender and move him on, with Everton mentioned as a potential destination.

Zwart said: “I keep my doubts. I think he’s never really going to be a grandiose success, but Ajax will make money from him. For the playing style of a club like Everton, he is a perfect defender. He also counts as trained in England, so you’re going to take money for him as Ajax.”

The Toffees are likely to want to rebuild their leaky defence this summer, though a move for a player of Bassey’s stature would certainly depend on whether they can stay up this season. Meanwhile, Ajax would be eager to recoup most of their £22m fee, with over four years remaining on his contract in Amsterdam.