Celtic interested in signing Crystal Palace midfielder James McCarthy

Published on: 21 January 2021

Crystal Palace midfielder James McCarthy is a target for Scottish champions Celtic.

The Republic of Ireland international is out of contract in the summer and Celtic are interested in signing him on a pre-contract as they weigh up an end of season overhaul for their squad.

McCarthy, 30, has a number of options building up though with other Premier League clubs recognising he could prove a good addition as a free agent.

Burnley, West Ham, Brighton, West Brom and Championship promotion chasers Bournemouth are all understood to be monitoring developments with Palace still to discuss a new deal.

Palace added a new striker, 23-year-old Jean-Philippe Mateta from Mainz, on Thursday and are looking to lower the average age of their squad. They have several players in the final months of their contracts which manager Roy Hodgson has admitted is a concern.

They released 25-year-old Max Meyer last week while Mamadou Sakho, Andros Townsend, Christian Benteke, Patrick van Aanholt, Joel Ward, Scott Dann, Gary Cahill, Connor Wickham, Wayne Hennessey and Stephen Henderson are all to agree new terms.

Hodgson confirmed: 'I probably would lie if I said it wasn't a concern. Of course it is. Everyone would like the ideal scenario where every player is comfortable and tied up to the club for a long period of time.

'It doesn't happen very often. There is always a situation that most managers will find themselves in. But our situation is a little bit different, because we have so many of these players.'

McCarthy, who has 42 caps for Ireland, started the season strongly but has made just eight appearances for Palace this campaign.

He remains a popular figure within the squad and Hodgson, who admits he pushed hard to sign McCarthy from Everton, has described him as a 'class player'. However, he could now agree to join Celtic or others for nothing.

Source: m.allfootballapp.com

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