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Celtic face competition with loan target 'pushing' for move
News
Celtic have been handed a major boost as a top target is eyeing a loan move.
Eintracht Frankfurt centre-back Aurele Amenda is ‘pushing’ for a loan amid Celtic’s interest, according to the Daily Record.
Amenda, who is 22 years old and stands at 6ft 6in, has played in nine Bundesliga matches this season, starting four times.
Current ETV
Aurèle Amenda
D (C)
E. Frankfurt
Aurèle Amenda
D (C)
E. Frankfurt
ETV Range
€8M - €10.9M
Celtic, who currently sit third in the Premiership behind Rangers and league leaders Hearts, have allowed 23 goals in as many games.
The club has allowed the lowest number of expected goals (xG) with 22.0, but it has the fourth-best defence in the Scottish Premiership based on goals allowed.
Amenda could be the answer to Celtic’s problems and could help the club get back into the top two. The club hasn’t finished outside of the top two since 1994/95.
But they’ll face competition for the player's services from teams across Europe.
Valencia, Torino, Nice, Lorient, and Bundesliga side Mainz have joined Celtic in the race to bring in Amenda on loan, according to Estadio Deportivo.
Bhoys face competition for defender
In 423 Bundesliga minutes this season, Amenda has become a strong player in duels, winning 61 percent of his total duels and 71.4 percent of his aerial duels.
His aerial duel success rate would be the best out of Celtic’s current first-choice centre-backs — Liam Scales and Auston Trusty — and his total duels success rate is better than that of Scales.
Amenda is coming off a disappointing performance against Hoffenheim, in which he scored an own goal. That said, he also won the ball to start a counter-attack that led to his club's goal in the 3-1 Hoffenheim victory.
With Eintracht Frankfurt already eliminated from the Champions League knockout stage with one matchday remaining, it is easy to see why the club would want to loan out its 22-year-old central defender.
Playing in Scotland could bring Amenda back to the form he showed in Switzerland with Young Boys, where he became an effective ball-playing centre-back and earned his move to Germany.
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