Rumour Mill: Celtic eye Mensah | Ofere

Ghana defender Jonathan Mensah (right). Picture: Ian Rutherford

Celtic set sights on Jonathan Mensah

CELTIC boss Ronny Deila is eyeing a summer bid for defender Jonathan Mensah.

Mensah, whose contract expires at French club Evian this summer, appeared in all three of Ghana’s World Cup group matches in Brzail last year and helped his national side to the runner-up spot at the Africa Cup of Nations at the start of 2015.

With the prospect of Celtic losing both on-loan Jason Denayer and Virgil van Dijk at the end of the season, Deila is keen to build the team’s defence and Mensah is reportedly on his radar as a reinforcement. (The Daily Record)

Wakaso, Tonev and Zaluska head for the exit

Celtic manager Ronny Deila is expect to trim his squad down this summer with six players heading for the exit.

It emerged that Mubarak Wakaso, Aleksander Tonev and Lukasz Zaluska are all being binned to make way for younger talent. The loan signings have failed to make an impact since arriving at Parkhead and will be joining out of contract keeper, Lukasz Zaluska as he moves on.

Deila has made it clear that he intends to keep hold of Celtic stars Virgil van Dijk or Stefan Johansen who are both attracting interest from other clubs.

John Guidetti is expected to remain until his contract his up while a question mark remarks next to Derk Boerrigter’s who has rarely featured in the Celtic line up since Deila became manager last summer.

£2.3 million Stefan Scepovic - Deila’s most expensive purchase - could also be up for sale if the right bid was made. (Evening Times)

Ofere: Celtic doesn’t scare me

Having faced AC Milan and Juventus, he’s hardly shaking in his boots confronted with Celtic, so the Inverness Caley Thistle ace Edward Ofere says about the upcoming match against the Glasgow side.

The Nigerian striker is relishing going up against the Bhoys on Sunday in their Scottish Cup semi-final tie at Hampden after making it onto the scoresheet last weekend at Parkhead.

Ofere spent two seasons at Seria A at Lecce and regularly faced clashes with AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus.

He said: “I have played against AC Milan, Juventus, Inter Milan and Roma, so they were pretty big games.

“Playing Celtic is also a big one for me. Scoring a goal against them gave me the edge to really prove myself in the Scottish league.

“I’m really excited about that, so I’m going to continue working hard.” (The Daily Record)

Who scored - Brown or Commons?

Trailing 1 - 0 to Kilmarnock at home, the thought of dropping a five-point lead, points dropped at Inverness and Aberdeen’s win at Kilmarnock were all fresh in the mind at Parkhead as Hoops captain Scott Brown netted the ball with a quick touch in the penalty box.

It was an outstanding strike but it has caused some questioning amongst fans.

While it has widely been reported that Brown made it onto the score sheet, Celtic TV replayed the goal and found that it was Kris Commons who had turned quickly, claimed the loose ball and snapped it into the top corner- off the toes of Brown.

Celtic went on to snatch a 4 - 1 victory.

Hibs denied ‘level playing field’ after fixture change

Hibs star Lewis Stevenson insists the Easter Road outfit have not been given a “level playing field” in the race for second place in the Championship after Rangers’ visit to champions Hearts was rescheduled for Sunday, May 3.

Rangers’ final league match of the season was originally pencilled in for Saturday of that weekend and was due to kick off at 3pm along with Hibs’ clash at Falkirk.

The match at Tynecastle has now been put back 24 hours and will be shown live on Sky Sports with a 12.30pm start as the Jambos are presented with the league trophy.

Stevenson said: “If it’s a level playing field, you’d expect every game to finish at the same time.

“We’ll try not to look too much into it as there’s not much you can do about it. All we can do is focus on ourselves and try and win our last three games. (Edinburgh Evening News)

Murray Davidson back to training soon

St Johnstone midfielder Murray Davidson is likely to be back sooner than thought.

Following a knee injury which saw him come off against Hamilton, he was given an injection whilst seeing a specialist in England and is reported to be able to start training again in ten days following rest.

A separate injury to the same knee needed surgery last year.

Both Davidson and the club are glad that his old injury hasn’t flared up again. The midfield man is seen as integral to the club’s future plans having recently signed a new two-year deal with the Perth side. (Evening Telegraph)

Rumour Mill: Celtic eye Mensah | Ofere | Brown goal