Celtic Target Fares Ghedjemis as Old Firm Transfer Battle Intensifies

Celtic and Rangers are trading early blows in the title race. They are now trading them in the market as well.

Fares Ghedjemis, the winger both Glasgow giants have circled for months, has reportedly made up his mind. If he leaves Frosinone, he wants Parkhead, not Ibrox.

Celtic back in for a familiar target

Celtic’s summer had been slow to ignite. A raft of departures stripped depth from Martin O'Neill’s squad, and for a while the arrivals column barely flickered. The recent signing of Bodo/Glimt striker Kasper Hogh, following Camilo Duran, has given the window some life, but the squad still needs more.

Ghedjemis has long been on that list.

Celtic had a €6m bid accepted by Frosinone in January for the Algeria international. The deal was there. The player wasn’t. At 23, with promotion in sight, he chose to stay and drag the Italian side over the line. He did exactly that, helping Frosinone into Serie A.

Promotion has changed everything. For Frosinone, it has hardened their stance. For Ghedjemis, it has raised the stakes.

The Italian club now value him higher and believe the lure of facing the giants of Serie A should be enough to keep him where he is. They are not in selling mode. Not when survival in the top flight is on the line and one of their best players is at the centre of it.

Rangers push the price up

Across the city, Rangers have been far busier. Eight new faces have already arrived for Derek McInnes as he tries to reshape a squad still nursing the scars of last season’s final-day heartbreak.

The opening-day draw with Dundee United was not the statement the former Hearts manager wanted. It looked like a team still learning each other’s runs, still working out its patterns. Time will be needed for this group to gel.

What Rangers have shown, though, is a willingness to spend. They have already outbid Celtic for Ghedjemis, seeing an £8m offer rejected by Frosinone. Money, for now, is their main weapon.

Celtic, if they truly want the winger, will have to move well beyond the figure they placed on him in January. The market has shifted, and so has the competition.

Player leans Celtic, club digs in

According to Celts Are Here, Ghedjemis’ stance has shifted. Where once he turned down the chance to move to Glasgow, he is now open to joining Celtic and would prefer them to Rangers.

That preference matters. It gives Celtic leverage in the only area where they currently lead this race. While Rangers have shown they are prepared to go higher on fee, Celtic can point to the player’s own choice, his sense of where his career should go next.

It does not, however, move Frosinone. Not yet.

The Italian club know they hold the contract and the platform of Serie A. They also know interest in the 23-year-old is growing beyond Glasgow. Clubs from France, Spain and Italy are tracking him, waiting to see if the Old Firm’s tug-of-war forces Frosinone to the table or simply drives the price up for everyone else.

Decision time looming

The next 48 hours could be pivotal. Fresh talks are planned over Ghedjemis’ future as Frosinone weigh up the competing pressures: the financial temptation of a major sale against the footballing reality of trying to stay in Serie A without one of their standout players.

For Celtic, the equation is clear. They hold the edge in the player’s mind but trail in the bidding. For Rangers, it is the reverse: strongest on the numbers, second choice in the winger’s eyes.

Somewhere between those positions lies a deal Frosinone might accept.

The Old Firm have gone head-to-head for titles, managers, and moments of history. Now they are locked in over a 23-year-old Algerian winger whose next move could shape both their seasons.

The question is simple: who blinks first—Celtic on the fee, Rangers on their resolve, or Frosinone on their refusal to sell?