Everton’s hopes of landing Alistair Johnston could reportedly be delayed by Celtic’s focus on securing a place in the Champions League group stage.
The Scottish champions face LASK Linz in a decisive play-off later this month, with next Thursday’s 11pm deadline looming for player registrations ahead of the two-legged encounter.
Given the financial and sporting significance of the tie, there is little appetite at Celtic to weaken the squad before the outcome is decided, particularly if no replacement has been brought in.
That situation is said to be complicating Everton’s attempts to strike a deal.
Discussing the transfer on the Liverpool Echo’s Royal Blue podcast, Chris Beesley said: “My understanding is that Alistair Johnston has told Celtic that he fancies that move to Everton.
“But I also think at this stage, it’s perhaps not as close as some have said.
“Everton had a representative watching Celtic’s opening game of the season against Dundee.
“But as we know, there’s also a major issue there, is that Champions League qualifying round, because that sort of makes or breaks their season.
“They had an embarrassing defeat last year at that stage of the competition, and they’re very worried about getting rid of any of their prize assets before that one’s taken care of.”
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