Simunovic undergoing medical at Italian side

Centre-back Jozo Simunovic is set to leave Celtic after just one year at the club.

The Italian side submitted a bid of around £3.75 million which has been accepted according to CalcioMercato and the 22-year-old is currently undergoing a medical after flying with Joe Hart to Italy.

Simunovic’s transfer from Celtic is a result of Nikola Maksimovic moving to Napoli, and both deals will be completed before tomorrow’s deadline.

The Turin-based side were interested in Simunovic last summer when he was still playing for Dinamo Zagreb, and have stepped up their pursuit of the defender this summer once again, despite insisting on social media that he wanted to stay.

A lot has been said in the last days about me leaving Celtic- and I tell you that there is no truth in that, I have a lot more to show (1)

— Jozo Šimunović (@SimunovicJozo) August 18, 2016

Simunovic last played in a Hoops jersey in January against St Johnstone before discovering the full extent of a serious knee injury, which he had been playing through for over a month.

He made just 17 appearances for Celtic since signing on deadline day last year for a fee of around £3 million, and scored once against Dundee United.

Rodgers has only seen him train so far at Celtic and Simunovic’s exit could see Mikael Lustig move into a more central role in defence permanently.