Celtic set to sign Joel Mvuka after all as deal 'renegotiated' for Lorient winger

Celtic’s deal to sign Joel Mvuka is back on, it is being reported.

The Hoops had agreed a £3 million deal to sign the Lorient winger on Deadline Day, with the player having a medical ahead of completing the move.

Martin O’Neill had confirmed this on Sunday evening, with Shaun Maloney having previously discussed the importance being placed on wide reinforcements.

However, at the eleventh hour, the move was thrown into doubt as Mvuka’s medical flagged issues which caused Celtic to think twice about the deal.

This has proved not to be the case, with the signing now seemingly being given the green light.

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Celtic to finally sign Joel Mvuka after medical issues

According to Stephen McGowan of The Herald, Celtic have now agreed to go ahead with the signing of Mvuka, with one key difference.

After initially being a straight permanent switch, it has been renegotiated into a loan deal with an option to buy.

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Mvuka will become one of three deadline day additions for the Celts, with the signing of Brentford defender Benjamin Arthur also on the verge of being completed.

Celtic have already announced the signing of Junior Adamu from Freiburg – that one is also a loan with an option to buy.

A right-footed right-winger, Mvuka moved from Bodo/Glimt to Lorient for north of £5 million three years ago.

He has been in and out of form in France, but has started just five league games this season with Lorient currently sitting ninth in Ligue 1.

He also spent the back end of last season on loan at Swiss side Young Boys, but was largely utilised from the bench at the Bern-based club.

He is one of many Bodo/Glimt exports who hasn’t hit the heights after earning a big move away from the Arctic Circle.

And aside from helping Celtic in a three-way title race, there is another major motivation behind his move to Glasgow: to make a last-minute breakthrough into Norway’s World Cup squad.

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Celtic-bound Joel Mvuka on World Cup ambitions

Speaking about his World Cup goal, Mvuka said: “Representing Norway at the World Cup would be so amazing for me.

“The last few years have been incredible for Norway. There are many great players performing well, and the development of football in Norway is excellent.

“And I can assure you that many more will arrive very soon. My aim for this season has been to keep playing as much as possible and get as many assists as I can.

“I was always a winger, but last season at Lorient they tried me out as a wing back and I really enjoyed it.

“This means I have to be much more focused because I also have to think about defending. I enjoyed my loan spell in Switzerland with Young Boys and the standard was very high.”

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