Many Newcastle United fans have been reacting on social media to reports by Football Insider that Celtic are preparing a January bid for Ki Sung-Yueng.
Hoops boss Neil Lennon is keen on bolstering his central midfield options at Parkhead, as Celtic are locked in a battle with bitter rivals Rangers for the Scottish Premiership title.
Lennon is a huge admirer of Ki and will try to take the £40,000-per-week South Korean back to Scotland when the transfer window opens next month.
Ki made 87 appearances for Celtic during a two-year spell at Parkhead before joining Swansea City in 2012, whom he left as a free agent in 2018 before signing with United.
But the 30-year-old has not been favoured by Toon boss Steve Bruce this season, and with his contract up in the summer, is expected to be given permission to leave in January.
Bruce has started the 113-cap international just once in the Premier League this term and omitted the defensive midfielder from his matchday squad for our last 11 games, while a minor knock is currently keeping Ki on the sidelines.
A January move would be our final chance to cash in on the £4.05million-rated midfielder, currently fifth in Bruce’s pecking order.
Should we keep or sell Ki in January?
Keep
Sell
Lennon had been keen on reuniting with Victor Wanyama, but has been rebuffed in his attempts to sign the Tottenham Hotspur outcast who has played just 122 minutes this season.
Wanyama remains a target for Lennon next month, but he concedes that Celtic will struggle to secure the Kenyan’s signature as Spurs will favour a permanent transfer, paving the way for the Hoops to try and sign Ki instead.
Here are some of the messages shared as fans reacted to Celtic’s interest in Ki…
Not a shock. Wouldn’t be surprised to see a loan come in as a replacement.
— David Mcgivern (@davemcg1) December 24, 2019
Never given a consistent run of games. He’s more capable of getting us further up the pitch with the ball in possession than most of our other centre mids, in my opinion. Tidy player
— Fergie (@TartoonArmy) December 24, 2019
Let the Longstaff bros come through instead. Good squad player but time to move on
— Mark Pickard (@MarkyPickard) December 24, 2019
He’ll be a miss. I don’t think
— Albert mooney (@Albertm70911962) December 24, 2019
Given where we’re at, I’d hold onto him and get young Matty out on loan to a good Championship outfit for 4 months.
But yeah, I get we’re stocked and he ain’t playing. The key here should be getting Matty Longstaff playing football.
— David Pick (@davidpick1987) December 24, 2019
We had the ki we just needed the secret
— Jason Wearmouth (@Jasonwearmouth) December 24, 2019
Hopefully Ki, Colback and Saivet off the books to free up some money to get another player in
— Lee Thompson (@Thomp1984) December 24, 2019
It’s just not happened for him
— Nigel Anthony Austin Charles Smith (@toastofworcesta) December 24, 2019
In other Newcastle United news, Bruce has lauded a “great” Toon man for his recent performance that has left the boss with serious questions to answer.