Camilo Duran is set to become Celtic's first summer signing — the Colombian forward is undergoing a medical, manager Martin O'Neill has confirmed.
O'Neill revealed the news ahead of Celtic's first public pre-season friendly against Shelbourne in Dublin, telling Celtic TV: "We've got the young lad Duran - he is doing a medical as we speak. If he's not doing it tonight, he'll be doing it tomorrow morning."
“Colombian forward Camilo Duran is set to become Celtic's first summer signing with a medical underway.”
The 24-year-old arrives for an undisclosed fee from Qarabag, the Azerbaijan Premier League runners-up, after less than a year in Baku. Duran joined Qarabag from Portuguese club Portimonense, but it was his performances in the Champions League that caught Celtic's attention — five goals in 10 appearances helped Qarabag finish 22nd in last season's competition.
His journey to Glasgow has been far from straightforward. Duran began his senior career with Lusitania in the Portuguese District League, moved to Estrela Amadora, then returned to Lusitania to help them win promotion to Liga 3 before joining Portimonense in Liga 2. Overall, he made 48 appearances for Qarabag, 33 of them starts, scoring 15 goals and providing 10 assists last season.
The imminent arrival comes amid growing frustration among Celtic fans, who have watched title rivals Heart of Midlothian bring in 10 signings and third-placed Rangers make five while the Scottish champions have yet to add to their squad. O'Neill, however, insisted work is ongoing behind the scenes.
"We've a number of players we're looking at," he said. "We have offers in for players at the same time. Hopefully in the not too distant future, in the next couple of weeks, we will have some really decent players at the football to add to the decent players we already have at the football club. We are absolutely trying to improve the squad and that will be necessary."
With Duran's medical all but complete, Celtic appear to have finally broken their summer drought — but whether one signing will be enough to close the gap on their resurgent rivals remains the unanswered question.