Celtic look to tie down star midfielders as Inverness Caley Thistles hope for Premiership talent

Hibs and Hearts’ Scottish Premiership rivals are already negotiating extending contracts in latest transfer news

Hearts are through to the Viaplay Cup semi-finals following a 2-1 win over Kilmarnock last night and Hibs will hope to achieve a similarly positive result when they take on St Mirren at Easter Road this evening (Wednesday 27 September).

The current reigning champions of the competition, Celtic, were knocked out by Kilmarnock in the second round and now the tournament could see a new winner for the first time since Ross County won their first Scottish League Cup in 2016.

However, while Hearts, Hibs, St Mirren, Ross County, Aberdeen, Livingston and Rangers focus on their cup potential, here is the latest transfer news from the Hibees and Jambos’ Scottish Premiership rivals...

Celtic look to tie down key midfielders

Celticare close to agreeing a contract extension with Reo Hatate and the club are also keen to secure Matt O’Riley on a new deal (Daily Mail).

The Japanese star had a turbulent start to his Parkhead life under Brendan Rodgers, enduring an initial spell out of the starting lineup. While his teammates, including Kyogo and Callum McGregor were all able to sign long-term contract extensions in the early days of Rodgers’ second spell, the same was not said for Hatate as a deal couldn’t be reached amid interest from elsewhere.

However, the latest reports now expect that the 25-year-old midfielder will sign a new extension which will see his contract go beyond the current 2026 expiry.

Similarly, the Danish international O’Riley, who has been attracting attention from Norway, will also hope to be tied down by Celtic as interest in the 22-year-old grows rapidly. The former England youth star was subject to a last-minute £10 million offer by Leeds, but this was subsequently rejected.

Inverness Caley Thistles hope for Premiership talent

Former Everton striker Duncan Ferugson was recently appointed the new manager of Inverness Caledonian Thistles and is already on the hunt for new talent. (The Herald)

The 51-year-old is hopeful of moving his side off the bottom of the Scottish Championship and has looked to Celtic to help him out.

When asked if he was looking to bring players in, Ferguson told STV: “Yes, we can get players out of the Scottish Premiership, can’t we, an we can get some boys who are out of Warnock.

“I have already been on to one or two of the Scottish managers. I spoke to Brendan (Rodgers) this morning, so he is going to help me out hopefully. So we look and see if we can identify some players and we will take it from there.”

Dons open up contract talks with midfield star

Aberdeen are to open fresh contract talks with midfielder Connor Barron, says manager Barry Robson (Press and Journal).

The Dons boss confirmed he recently conversed with the midfielder regarding his future as the Scotland U21 international’s current contract expires at the end of the season. While the Dons initially opened up talks with the Pittodrie youth academy graduate more than a year ago, there was no resolution and Robson is keen to re-open those talks in a bid to get Barron to commit his long-term future to the club.

On Barron’s contract situation, the Dons boss said: “I’ve been speaking to Connor at the minute and he knows what we feel about him. He came through here with me and I have known him for a lot of years.

“He was my captain in the development teams so I know what he’s capable of. Connor’s never let us down and I thought he was outstanding on Sunday against Ross County.”