Celtic have agreed a fee with Royal Antwerp to sign Aurelio Buta, the Daily Record reports.
What's the latest transfer news on Aurelio Buta?
The report discloses that the Hoops have agreed a fee of just under £3m with the Belgian side to bring the 24-year-old right-back to Glasgow. The deal is not over the line yet though, as Buta is still yet to agree personal terms with Celtic.
Would Buta come straight into Celtic's starting XI?
Should he sign for Celtic, then Buta would likely come into the starting XI right away. That is no slight on Anthony Ralston, who is the current right-back and has performed well this season, scoring a memorable goal in the recent 2-1 defeat by Hearts.
But the Hoops are not going to spend almost £3m on a player without putting them into the starting line-up.
Two of Celtic's biggest signings of the summer, £4m centre-back Carl Starfelt and £3.5m arrival Liel Abada, were given the nod to start as soon as they joined the club. That will most likely happen with Buta.
Ralston has shown enough this season to prove he can be a useful option at right-back.
How did Buta perform last season?
Buta, who is out of contract at the end of the season, was a first-team regular for most of 2020/21 for Antwerp. He made 34 appearances in all competitions, and contributed five assists.
In the current season, WhoScored shows that Buta already tops the assists chart for Antwerp with one. Indeed, he is the only player to have supplied a setup for the Jupiler League side so far.
How much money have Celtic spent so far this summer?
Celtic have been busy in the transfer window this summer. Not only have the aforementioned Starfelt and Ababa joined, but the Hoops have also signed Kyogo Furuhashi, and just recently completed the free transfer signings of James McCarthy and Joe Hart. Ozase Urhoghide also joined from Sheffield Wednesday.
The pursuit of Buta proves that manager Ange Postecoglou is not finished making additions to his squad. Transfermarkt shows that Celtic have spent £14.56m on new arrivals this summer, but that the club have taken in £16.92m from players that have left Glasgow.
The majority of that money is from the sale of Kristoffer Ajer to Brentford. Transfermarkt states that the Hoops received £14.13m for that deal.
Whether Buta will be Celtic's final addition of the summer remains to be seen.