Sunderland and Barnsley are both eager on signing on young Celtic midfielder Luca Connell, with the Tykes making an offer to the Scottish Giants.
The Black Cats are currently in hot pursuit of promotion under Phil Parkinson and have made a string of signings to help strengthen the squad to climb back into the promotion picture in recent weeks.
Having already made the signings of Kyle Lafferty, Bailey Wright and Josh Scowen to strengthen the spine of their squad, they have now set their sights on adding more depth the squad in defensive midfield.
Sky Sports’ Mike McGrath has revealed that Sunderland are interested in signing 19-year-old Celtic holding midfielder Luca Connell, but are yet to make an offer.
However, they face stiff competition from Championship side Barnsley who are also interested in bringing in the Republic of Ireland youth international and have made an offer to Celtic to bring him in before tomorrow’s deadline.
Connell has barely featured at Parkhead this season after joining in the summer from Bolton Wanderers and it would most likely be a loan move this window.
Neil Lennon’s side are currently weighing up the offer as they assess Connell’s options ahead of tomorrow’s transfer deadline.
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The verdict
Sunderland might have to get a move on if they are serious about signing Connell because it looks like Barnsley have already moved to get themselves at the front of the queue.
The Black Cats have strengthened very well this month by adding a lot of experience to their side as well as proven quality that can hit the ground running in League One.
Luca Connell wouldn’t immediately walk into Parkinson’s starting 11, especially at the moment as they surge up the table and into the play-offs, however, he could add some much-needed depth in the back end of the season.
Sunderland might not pull out all the stops to bring in Connell as Parkinson seems content with his current business, but Connell would be a solid addition and is a very talented player.