Beck path clears, Lagerbielke silence broken and 'excellent' £4.7m deal green lit – Celtic transfer state of play

Celtic have seen the race to land Liverpool’s Owen Beck narrow with one suitor reportedly dropping out of the race.

The Scottish Premiership champions have been locked in talks over signing the Welsh international that they first tried to land in January following an impressive six-month stint at Dundee - and since then he has remained his on Brendan Rodgers’ wish list for the left-back's to provide a challenge for Greg Taylor. Liverpool are understood to be willing to sell the 22-year-old as with Beck in the final 12 months of his contract.

The Hoops, Leeds United and QPR have been touted as potential destinations - but Middlesbrough are said to have given up on brining Beck to the Riverside this summer. Teeside Live report that Michael Carrick's side will "not offer competition" to the list of suitors. While left-back is a key position that Celtic want to strengthen in, a new central midfielder could quickly move up the agenda.

Matt O'Riley is inching closer to a big-money switch to Brighton - and that could clear the path for Tanner Tessmann to arrive at Celtic Park. The 22-year-old was a standout for the club last season in Serie B for Venezia last season - and has already seen moves to Inter and Fiorentina collapse this summer. The latest saw a £4.7m move to Florence fall apart over a disagreement with the player's agents.

But after being frozen out by the club, the Venezia head coach Eusebio di Fransesco has admitted an exit has already been green lit by the club - should the right offer come in. He told Tuttomercatoweb: "I’ll let the club talk about him.

"Then, if you ask me what I think of him as a player, then I can tell you that he’s an excellent player. At the moment, he’s not part of the project. It’s a