It is evident that Celtic need to strengthen their squad in the upcoming summer transfer window. Now, it remains to be seen how the Hoops go about doing that.

There are a number of areas where reinforcements are needed. Midfield is one of them. In fact, the Hoops could look completely different in the middle of the park come next season.

Pretty much all of their midfielders are being linked with a move away at the moment, with the exception of Luke McCowan, who signed an extension not too long ago.

One midfielder who looks almost certain to leave is Reo Hatate. The Japanese international has spent more than four years at Celtic already and by this point, plenty start thinking about their next move.

On top of that, Hatate has not been playing regularly in recent weeks, even though his performances were actually pretty decent before he ended up on the bench. Is that a hint that he is on his way out?

Also, if Hatate does end up leaving, Celtic will need to bring in a replacement. The Japanese midfielder is one of their most talented players.

Interestingly, the club are being linked with an Italian youth international midfielder at the moment. But it could take a significant transfer fee to make any move happen this summer and there is plenty of competition as well.

According to Gazzetta dello Sport, Celtic are one of the clubs keeping an eye on Issa Doumbia, alongside Club Brugge, Espanyol, Southampton and more.

It is believed that Venezia have already received offers north of €`10 million for Doumbia but have not parted ways with him yet. It is believed that a fee close to €15 million might be required to change the Italian Serie B club's mind.

Doumbia was linked with Celtic back in December as well but a move did not happen back then. And his transfer valuation will have only gone up since.

He has had an excellent season with Venezia, scoring nine goals and providing five assists in 36 appearances across all competitions.

Of course, with Venezia sitting atop the Serie B table, they are in a strong negotiating position at the moment. And that will be further strengthened if they end up getting promoted by the end of the campaign.

Let's see how things play out. This is a situation worth keeping an eye on, just as Celtic seem to be doing with the Italian midfielder.

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