Rumour Mill: Celtic eye Fabrice N’Sakala | van Dijk | Hearts

CELTIC are still aiming to bolster their defence despite the arrival of Tyler Blackett on a season-long loan from Manchester United.

The Hoops have been linked with Anderlecht defender Fabrice N’Sakala.

The 25-year-old DR Congo international joined the Belgian side in 2013 after a spell at Troyes in France but is finding first-team football limited, and Anderlecht are reportedly open to letting N’Sakala leave this summer. (Walfoot.be)

Celtic ‘tried to sign Fletcher’

RONNY Deila has hinted that Celtic tried to lure Darren Fletcher to Glasgow in January, saying that the Scotland international ‘went to West Brom on three times the salary he could get at Celtic’.

Deila has been keen on boosting the number of Scots at the club, and in the last six or seven months has signed Scots trio Stuart Armstrong, Gary Mackay-Steven and Scott Allan.

Reportedly a Celtic fan, Fletcher had been loosely linked with Celtic in January but chose to join West Brom. (Scottish Sun)

Van Dijk nears Southampton switch

SOUTHAMPTON look likely to finally prise Virgil van Dijk from Celtic for a fee believed to be in the region of £11.5 million.

Van Dijk has been linked with a move away from Glasgow for most of the summer with the Saints in the driving seat.

The signing of Tyler Blackett appears to be Celtic preparing for life without van Dijk, with the young Manchester United stopper able to perform at centre half and left back. (Various)

Neilson slams Collum over red card

HEARTS manager Robbie Neilson has hit out at referee Willie Collum, claiming the official cost his men their place at the top of the Premiership table.

Neilson also said that a red card had been almost inevitable once he learned who would be refereeing and revealed he had tried to limit any damage by training with ten men in the build up.

“We get a referee and we look at what the stats are and what way they referee the game. With this game, with the officials we were getting, we knew there was a high probability of a man being sent off and it’s happened again,” said Neilson. (Scotland on Sunday)

Warburton blocks national call-ups at Ibrox

CONFLICT between club and international football has taken an interesting twist at Rangers, with manager Mark Warburton admitting he negotiated with national associations not to choose his players.

A week on from saying that he would look to postpone this Saturday’s fixture with Raith Rovers if the requisite number of his squad were called up by their nations, he revealed that he effectively blocked this happening.

Warburton would not reveal which call-ups he prevented, but it is likely he had talks with England over Nathan Oduwa and Dominic Ball. However, Gedion Zelalem is joining the United States under-23 side after the Raith game for the friendly against Qatar under-21s at Bury. (Scotland on Sunday)

Boyd confident Scotland can make Euro 2016

KILMARNOCK striker Kris Boyd believes Scotland are capable of qualifying for Euro 2016 - but has warned that the club may

The former Rangers forward reckons that this is the first time in a while that Scotland have a squad with the ability to see off rivals and make it to France next year.

He said: “This is probably the first time where we have a team that you believe could do it. But other countries have got better while we have been at a standstill for years. People need to be honest about that or we can’t change it.” (Scotland on Sunday)