Rumour Mill: Guidetti | Celtic

John Guidetti of Sweden holds off Turkey's Hakan Cinemre during the Under-21 clash. Picture: AP

I turned down Serie A, reveals Guidetti

NEW Celtic striker John Guidetti has revealed he turned down a host of top clubs to join Celtic on loan.

He told a Swedish podcast that he was aware of interest from the likes of Fiorentina and Palermo, as well as Olympiakos, AIK in Sweden and Dutch giants Ajax.

He added: “I chose Celtic and I am happy that I did.”

The 22-year-old, who hasn’t made a first team appearance for Manchester City despite arriving in 2008 under the stewardship of Sven Goran-Eriksson, has already pledged to try and emulate boyhood hero and Celtic legend Henrik Larsson. (Various)

Celtic’s £212k windfall from City breach

CELTIC have also been handed a £212,000 boost thanks to Manchester City’s fine for breaching financial fair play rules.

UEFA hit City with a whopping £50 million fine, but will only pay £20 million if they comply with break-even rules in future.

French giants Paris St Germain and Russian side Zenit St Petersburg were also among nine clubs fined, with the 70 clubs who reached the Champions League and Europa League group stages benefiting from €265,000 each. (Daily Mail)

Numan urges van Dijk to quit Hoops to further career

FORMER Rangers defender Arthur Numan has urged his countryman Virgil van Dijk to seek a move away from Celtic as soon as possible to avoid his career stagnating.

Ex-Dutch international Numan, who won 45 caps for his country, told the Daily Record: “If he gets the chance Virgil should go to England in January or at the end of the season. Over the last two seasons he has proved he is too good for Scottish football.

“If you are linked with some clubs in England it’s natural you are going to want to move away because you have Celtic in the top league here and who else?”

Numan also pointed to the lack of competition in the Scottish Premiership, saying he believed Louis van Gaal left the 23-year-old out of his World Cup squad because it was ‘hard to judge [van Dijk] when he is playing against strikers from a smaller team [like Ross County].’ (Daily Record)

• Celtic picked up a gong at the European Club Awards last night - the Hoops won the Best Achievement in Marketing award for their use of stadium-wide Wi-Fi and their Celtic Live matchday app

FA fears over hooliganism at Scotland-England clash

THE English FA is ‘working closely’ with police in Scotland and their counterparts at the Scottish FA in a bid to curb any trouble between supporters at the Scotland v England friendly at Celtic Park on November 18th.

Fears over potential trouble grew after video footage appeared of England fans in Basle for a Euro 2016 qualifier chanting: “F**k off Scotland, we’re all voting Yes’ as the referendum on Scottish independence grows nearer.

UEFA will not take any action over the chants after they were left out of the delegate’s report, but the FA played down any concerns over the friendly match.

C;ub England managing director Adrian Bevington told the Telegraph: “We were pleased that the Wembley fixture in August 2013 passed peacefully with more than 20,000 Scotland fans adding to the occasion and atmosphere of respectful rivalry.

“Over the last decade we have been proud of our official travelling support and the improvement in behaviour, which has resulted in no arrests at any of the last four major tournaments.” (Telegraph)

Malonga vows to aid Hibs promotion push

DOMINIQUE Malonga has vowed to help plug the gap left by Farid El Alagui’s injury, and help propel Hibs up the table.

The Paris-born striker is keen to help the Easter Road club push for promotion from the Championship, and told reporters about his experiences of playing against top defenders in Serie A, such as Andrea Barzagli and Giorgio Chiellini.

The Congolese striker told The Scotsman: ““I won promotion with Cesena four years ago and last year I was in a play-off with Real Murcia, although we lost in the semi-final.

“I’ve played in France, Italy and Spain and now I’m happy to be here. This is a very good opportunity for me.” (The Scotsman)

News in brief

• Mark Burchill has backed Jim McIntyre to spark a change in fortunes at Ross County

• Stevie May believes better pitches in Scotland would help improve the quality of the game

• A recurring injury has ruled Dundee United defender Conor Townsend out for a month

• Dundee are set to send Nicky Riley, Cammy Kerr and Dylan Carreiro out on loan

Rumour Mill: Guidetti | Celtic | Scotland-England