Ever since Mikael Lustig left in the summer, Celtic have been desperately searching for a right-back to replace him. According to reports, they are on the verge of signing Hatem Abd Elhamed.
The Sun have reported that Celtic and Hapoel Be’er Sheva have agreed a fee of £1.6m for the Israeli international.
The Glasgow side have been playing Kristoffer Ajer at right-back in their opening Champions League qualifiers, but will be happy to sign someone with more experience of playing in that position.
Abd Elhamed can play anywhere across the back line, but looks most likely to line up on the right side for now. It’s a further blow to the future of Anthony Ralston who failed to start against FK Sarajevo despite being the only recognised right-back in the squad.
Neil Lennon has focused on rebuilding the defence this summer, having already signed Luca Connell, Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo and Christopher Jullien. If he trusts Abd Elhamed to be his main starter then he can start to establish a settled side.
Celtic supporters may worry that the signing does look similar to when they signed Rami Gershon in 2013, where he was billed as a versatile player who could solve their left-back issues back then, however he only managed three league games before being moved on.
Celtic face their next Champions League qualifier at home to Estonians Nomme Kalju on Wednesday, so they will need to move quickly to have the Israeli available for the tie.