Celtic open initial talks to sign £8m star who’s the next Bitton

Is it set to be a busy summer at Celtic?

After missing out on the treble, beaten on penalties by Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup Final, the Hoops are expected to heavily reinforce their squad this summer.

Well, with a crucial Champions League play-off tie circled in red on the calendar, taking place at the end of August, Brendan Rodgers will want his summer business to be done early, so are the Premiership champions about to land a new recruit?

Celtic targeting a new midfielder

Defenders are certainly the order of the day for the Celts this summer with Kieran Tierney’s return to Parkhead one of Scottish football’s worst-kept secrets.

However, the full-back isn’t the only player who could be closing in on a move to Paradise according to reports.

As per Portuguese outlet A Bola, Celtic have ‘opened initial talks’ to sign midfielder Demir Ege Tıknaz.

They outline the fact that the 20-year-old spent this season on loan at Rio Ave from Beşiktaş, and the Portuguese club have an option to make this move permanent for €5m (around £4.2m).

However, given interest from Celtic, as well as Lille, Rio Ave are preparing to make a quick profit on Tıknaz, placing a €10m (around £8m) price-tag on his head.

So, would he be a good signing for the Scottish champions, and which former Celt is he reminiscent of?

Demir Ege Tıknaz: the next Nir Bitton?

Writer Ryan McGinlay believes that Tıknaz’s ‘resemblance in play-style to Nir Bitton is uncanny’ and, should he arrive, if the Turkey international had even half as successful a Celtic career, he’d be doing well.

Bitton signed from FC Ashdod in 2013 and would remain at Celtic for nine years, making 271 appearances and winning 18 major trophies.

Naturally a defensive midfielder, the Israeli international would frequently fill in at centre-back too, with Kieran Devlin of the Athletic praising Bitton’s ‘reading of the game’ and ‘composure in possession’, with Joe Sullivan labelling him ‘versatile and highly reliable’.

So, could Tıknaz be something similar?

Well, analyst Ben Mattinson believes the Turkiye U21 international ‘reads the game well’ allowing him to ‘step up and intercept​​​​​​​’, praising his ‘timing of tackles​​​​​​​’ and ability to ‘steal the ball’, adding that he possesses a ‘decent passing range’ too.

Meantime, in an interview with Sarah Shephard of the Athletic, Tıknaz​​​​​​​ himself says he has a similar playing style to that of Sergio Busquets, stating “I always want to have possession… I’m kind of a playmaker… I can play box-to-box too”.

Well, according to Aryan Suraj Chadha of Goal, the Turkish youngster is one of the most ‘sought-after talents across Europe’, so let’s assess his statistics in the Primeira Liga this season.

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Worth stating first and foremost that, according to a study by Bernd Frick, Tommy Kweku Quansah and Markus Lang, the Primeira Liga is one of the ‘least balanced leagues’ in European football, so the fact that Tıknaz was playing for Rio Ave, who finished 11th, makes his statistics all the more impressive.

The Turkish midfielder ranks highly for metrics both in and out of possession, sat third when it comes to interceptions, while also registering noteworthy numbers when it comes to his pass completion percentage as well as passes into the final third.

Thus, all available evidence suggests Tıknaz is a high-quality, high-potential player, one that Celtic should absolutely be looking to snap up.

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