Celtic close in on Oxlade-Chamberlain deal: Hoops race against Europa League deadline

Celtic are closing in on the signing of former Arsenal and Liverpool midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

The Hoops have been pursuing the 32-year-old for several days but interest is poised to step up as the Glasgow giants seek conclude talks rapidly to allow Oxlade-Chamberlain to be involved in their Europa League squad.

In order for Martin O’Neill’s team to be able to register the 35-time capped England international for European competition, he will have to be registered by the end of Thursday.

Celtic race to get deal done

While the regular transfer deadline on 2 February did not apply for this deal as Oxlade-Chamberlain is a free agent after being released by Besiktas in the summer, UEFA’s Europa League deadline represents a goal for Celtic to meet in order to get the deal over the line.

The Hoops are confident that the player will be able to hit the ground running at Celtic Park as he has been training with Arsenal.

Meanwhile, the player had previously expressed his desire to remain close to London following the birth of his second child.

Contract talks for Oxlade-Chamberlain are said to be “advancing”, according to TeamTalk, while and agreement between the player and club is “moving closer”, The Herald reports.

O’Neill admits Oxlade-Chamberlain interest

Celtic manager Martin O’Neill admitted that he has an interest in the player when speaking to Sky Sports on Wednesday.

“I do like him. I genuinely do. Yes. He has trained at Arsenal for some time since his time in Turkey,” O’Neill said.

“Spoke to him but I’m sure he’ll have lots of options maybe closer to London as well too. But he was very affable, I must admit.

“I would be very interested in doing it, but I’m surprised that people haven’t taken him closer to the area and he’s telling me he’s training with Arsenal for quite some considerable time.

“I think he was very excited about what we were saying. He knows about the football club. He’s a big friend of Joe Hart and Joe’s spoken to him. Not on our behalf. It was just a conversation with Joe.”

Oxlade-Chamberlain could make his debut for Celtic in Saturday’s Scottish Cup clash with Dundee.

Related stories:

Celtic sent clear Oxlade-Chamberlain message as Arsenal stance clarified

Celtic eye shock move for former Arsenal and Liverpool superstar

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