Celtic move for Israeli as Hearts line up Paul Hartley

Celtic fans could soon be welcoming their sixth new player of the summer as negotiations began with Maccabi Haifa for the £1.2million signing of Israel international Biram Kayal.

The Israeli club have confirmed Celtic have made an official approach for the 22-year-old holding midfielder who has 12 caps. As Celtic flew back from their pre-season tour of North America, chief executive Peter Lawwell was reportedly trying to thrash out the deal ahead of the signing deadline for the Champions League qualifier against Braga next week.

Maccabi president Jacob Shahar said: "Celtic have approached us about Biram but they are not the only club interested in him."

Elsewhere in the transfer market, former Celtic player Paul Hartley look set to rejoin Hearts after the Tynecastle club confirmed they are set to make a formal move for the midfielder.

Director Sergejus Fedotovas is awaiting approval to push ahead with the signing of the Bristol City player. Fedotovas, who reports to majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov, admitted there had already been discussions with the 33-year-old, who left Tynecastle in 1.1 million switch to Celtic in 2007.

Hartley is halfway through a two-year contract at Ashton Gate but City manager Steve Coppell will allow the homesick Scotland player to return north.

Aberdeen manager Mark McGhee has confirmed his interest in the player but Hearts look to be favourites for his signature.

Fedotovas said: "We are finalising the approval process for signing Paul Hartley so I hope that we will be able to sign the player in the near future.

"I think that, in the next day or two, this will be absolutely clear and we will be given the green light to go ahead. I understand that he is very popular with the fans, but we still need to wait a little bit to find out the possibilities. Generally, amongst the board there is support for this move so we need to formalise a few things and wait a few days for a final decision."