Celtic will have to pay out as much as £15million to land Fabian Rieder from Young Boys this summer.
That is according to pundit Stephen McGinn - who insists it would be a landmark deal for the club under new boss Brendan Rodgers. The 21-year-old Swiss international midfielder has reportedly attracted admiring glances from manager Rodgers as he looks to build a squad capable of challenging in the Champions League next term - with the Scottish Premiership champions boasting a massive transfer kitty following the exit of Jota for Saudi Arabia.
He's been linked with several European clubs after another fine season for Young Boys as they clinched the Swiss title again, with Young Boys sporting director Christoph Spyche admitting the top prospect looks set to leave. McGinn reckons Celtic may have to pay top dollar to get a deal over the line. However, the pundit reckons it would send a message to any doubts over the potential overhaul of the club following Rodgers arrival.
McGinn told The Go Radio Football Show: "With all the talk of Brendan Rodgers and taking them to the next level in Europe it's probably the first signing that suggests that. Some of the players that have been suggested and have been signed so far are the type of signings Celtic have been making in the last five or six years.
"I think Reider is one of those next level signings. I think as far back as 25 years the signing limit for Celtic has been around that £5-£6million mark.
"It would take upwards of £14-£15million to sign Reider and it's the 'wow' signing that shows that it's not a fantasy about taking Celtic to the next level and the board saying 'we have the money here so to make that progression we are not just going to sign the projects, we are going to sign the next level projects'. It's the first player of this kind of new vision of taking Celtic to the next level."
READ NEXT