Vinicius Souza is someone that Celtic are believed to have been chasing for a while now. The Brazilian midfielder is currently with Belgian second division side, Lommel SK, but made a tremendous impression while playing for top flight club, KV Mechelen, last season and has appeared to catch the attention of clubs all around Europe.

Celtic appear to be one of those clubs and it is not hard to understand why. The Hoops need to add some steel to their midfield, having seen Nir Bitton depart the club at the end of last season. While the Israeli international might not have been a regular starter, he was a key player nonetheless, and was someone Ange Postecoglou relied on to come off the bench and see out games.

Thus, he will need replacing and someone like Souza could be the perfect signing for the Hoops. But as the transfer saga for him drags on, it looks like the Glasgow giants might be ready to move their eyes elsewhere.

As tweeted out by Anthony Joseph, around 20 clubs have expressed interest and while Celtic are still an option, they won’t wait for much longer:

The Sky Sports man has provided a worrying Celtic transfer update

Someone like Souza could be a terrific signing for Celtic, even if on a straight loan. But with the situation surrounding the midfielder’s future not showing much change, the Hoops might decide to bring someone else in.

That would be the right decision as well, since defensive midfield is a position of urgent need for Celtic and as a result, they cannot afford to sit around and wait for Souza to make a decision for far too long.

On the other hand though, considering the incredible potential that Souza has, it would be a blow for Celtic to not end up signing him. But then, one should remember the Riley McGree saga from January and it is safe to say that it worked out quite well for the Hoops that time around.

This article was originally posted here