Oliver Birch 
David Ramos/Getty Images Sport
Sporting Lisbon manager Jorge Silas has confirmed his interest in Andraz Sporar and described the striker as “quality.”
According to Portuguese outlet A Bola, Silas revealed in a press conference that it takes a player of certain quality to play for Sporting, and Sporar possesses such ability.
I think all players targeting Sporting have to have quality. I know Sporar and he has quality. I also know a lot of others and if I don’t know, I’ll see, because it’s so easy these days. This one I know and he is a quality player. We have several possibilities and when talking about a player for Sporting then he has to have quality. This one has.
READ CELTIC VERDICT
Celtic have certainly missed out when it comes to Sporar, in our opinion. The Hoops made the first move for him back in December after meeting with Slovan Bratislava over his availability, and could have potentially had the deal wrapped up by now.
However, Celtic failed to submit a concrete offer following the initial meeting, allowing the likes of Sporting the opportunity to swoop in.
The 25-year-old would have seriously bolstered Celtic’s firepower alongside Odsonne Edouard had the deal been completed, given how he has already scored 20 goals in 26 appearances this season.
The Slovenia international also looked impressive in the Europa League despite Slovan Bratislava’s failure to make it out of the group stages, scoring five goals in six appearances.
And adding a player with that kind of record would have been an excellent addition ahead of Celtic’s last 32 tie with Copenhagen next month.
But the Hoops now look as though they’ll be forced to turn their attention elsewhere, with the striker seemingly set on Sporting.
