AMBROSINO CELTIC MOVE STILL POSSIBLE, PLAYER REMAINS UNCOMITTED
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- 2 hours ago
- 2 min read
It’s been a while since we’ve heard any firm updates out of Italy about the status of Italian under-21 international striker Giuseppe Ambrosino; Celtic have said nothing. Still, there has been no movement elsewhere either. Perhaps, this may all yet work out in Celtic’s favor.
Serie A sides Cagliari and newly promoted Cremonese both expressed interest in signing the player, who was subsequently left out of Napoli’s pre-season training camp.
Ambrosino: Celtic Remain the Only Team He Has Expressed an Interest in Joining
Once Cremonese confirmed their 2.5-million-pound bid, that seemed like that. It seemed the player was off to Cremonese to lead their attack as they bid to stay in the Italian top flight.
However, I pointed out at the time, that whilst Cremonese’s offer seemed palatable to Napoli, the player himself had said nothing. He continued to say nothing, and Cremonese’s interest slowly fizzled out.
Ambrosino declared a week or so ago that he was content to stay and fight for his place at Napoli. However, this seems more like brinksmanship from the player than anything else.
He knows that, barring a change in manager or a massive injury crisis, he doesn’t have a long-term future at Napoli.
However, Ambrosino also knows that, with less than a year left on his contract, he doesn’t have to accept the first offer thrown his way. Hence why he appears to have quietly and politely rejected Cremonese’s advances.
Napoli can’t force the player to go anywhere he doesn’t want to. They already tried freezing him out of pre-season but that only seems to have sharpened Ambrosino’s resolve to stay put, at least for now.
If Celtic are still interested in the player, then they have a couple of options here.
Go back to Napoli with an offer higher than Cremonese’s initial bid, and the club will almost certainly accept it. They want the player off their books.
Another option, though probably the opposite of what most Celtic fans want to hear right now, is to wait until January. As the player enters his final 6 months of his contract, his value will crash.
However, this would also apply to any club in Europe. Ambrosino is one of Europe’s emerging talents. Plenty of clubs will be monitoring him already. I’d expect several of them to make their moves in January when he becomes available for next to nothing.
And we all know, when Celtic get locked into a bidding war with anyone, it seldom ends well for us.
Ambrosino is available. He fits Celtic’s profile. We know the club were interested in him a month ago, and the player was open to the move.
Get it done Celtic.
If, as we fear may happen, we end up not making the Champions League next week, then this is exactly the kind of signing that could help smooth over what will be a very tense time for supporters and staff alike.