Hearts still hoping to land Copil ahead of Celtic

HEARTS and Celtic are vying for the signature of a talented Romanian teenager. Reports yesterday claimed that 16-year-old Dumitru Copil is on his way to Celtic, after impressing chief scout Ray Clarke.

However, sources close to Hearts claim that the Tynecastle club have beaten Celtic in the race to sign Copil. The player, who has been compared to his legendary countryman, Georghe Hagi, visited the Tynecastle club's Riccarton training complex in July, and it is claimed that since then he has agreed terms on an initial two-year deal which could rise to five years, subject to him obtaining a work permit.
Advert for scotsman.com's weekly money newsletter

Hearts have agreed a fee of 100,000 with the playmaker's club, Atletico Arad, and he is expected to return to Edinburgh on 6 January to finalise the move.

Reports yesterday, however, claimed the player was "90 per cent" certain to move to Glasgow. According to a Glasgow-based tabloid, the teenager was reported to have said: "I will be going to Celtic on 3 January, it is now 90 per cent complete. I regard this as a very big honour to join a club like Celtic because they have an excellent European tradition.

"There were offers from Hearts and Liverpool, but I have decided to go to Glasgow. I really enjoyed my time at Hearts and I wanted to become a member of that team after they showed such interest in me. But a week after the Hearts trial, Liverpool contacted me and I went there too." But Hearts officials and Copil's advisors knew nothing of the suggestion that the youngster had signed for Celtic.

Parkhead manager Gordon Strachan refused to talk of the midfielder's impending arrival yesterday, referring all enquiries to the club's head of youth football, Tommy Burns.

His coach, Arpad Cserneczky, believes Copil is one of the biggest talents in his native land. He said: "He is like Hagi, but Frank Lampard would be the closest British equivalent to him in terms of playing style and aggression."

Taken from the Scotsman