Serie A’s Catania in third bid for Johnny Russell

CATANIA have had a third bid for Dundee United forward Johnny Russell knocked back as the Tannadice outfit comes under increasing pressure to sell its prize asset.

Johnny Russell: Serie A interest. Picture: SNS

• Johnny Russell subject to third bid from Serie A side Catania

• Dundee United also fighting off interest from Celtic

The latest bid for Russell, who has one year left on his current contract, is thought to be in the region of £800,000, according to The Sun.

The Serie A side have made no secret of their desire to land the Tannadice striker; though Jackie McNamara has said he hopes to extend the striker’s contract, the club hierarchy are thought to be willing to sell him.

The 23-year-old, who has also attracted interest from Celtic, would have the option of signing a pre-contract agreement with the Sicilian side in January - a situation which would leave Dundee United without a transfer fee for the highly-rated player.

McNamara, who still wants to keep Russell, said: “There will be speculation about Johnny because he’s a good player.

“We’ll have that for the next few months. He’s going into the last year of his contract, so there are a lot of things to consider. Ideally, he’ll sign a new contact and I can work with him.”