EFL club eye Celtic star as Hoops suffer Premier League set-back

It's just over 24 hours until the January transfer window closes with many deals still on the cards. It's been a fairly quiet month but Thursday could see plenty of last minute deals pushed through as the Scottish Premiership sides hope to firm up their squads ahead of the split.

Hibs and Hearts have secured key loan figures this month with Myziane Maolida and Dexter Lembikisa scoring already for their respective clubs. Steven Naismith and Nick Montgomery have also bid farewell to several starlets who will be hopeful of earning themselves more minutes in clubs lower down the leagues ahead of the 2024/25 season.

Ahead of deadline day, here is the latest transfer news from Hibs and Hearts' Premiership rivals...

EFL club eye Celtic star

Cardiff City are keen on Celtic midfielder David Turnbull and initial contact has been made by the Welsh club about the former Motherwell player (Sky Sport).

Reports indicate that Cardiff have made contact and talks are currently ongoing. The midfielder is currently set to be out of contract this summer and has yet signed a deal that would extend his stay at Parkhead. With this in mind, he has since attracted interest with the Bluebirds reportedly tracking his moves carefully.

It is currently unclear whether Cardiff are hopeful of securing the bid before the end of tomorrow or whether they are speaking in the hope of signing him for the summer. What is known is that the midfielder has been on the Bluebirds' radar for several years having initially being targeted by the Welsh side in 2020.

Hoops suffer Premier League set-back

Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has dismissed suggestions defender Matt Targett could move to Celtic to solve their left-back problem (Scottish Sun). Brendan Rodgers has several issues in his defence with Greg Taylor and Liam Scales out of action with only Alexandro Bernabei to choose form.

With the Hoops light on numbers, they had been linked with a move for the ex-England youth international. Targett is currently under contract until 2026 but has only played three Premier League games for the Magpies so far with four other appearances coming s a Champions League sub and in the EFL Cup.

However, the Newcastle boss has said 'hands off' and suggested that there hasn't, yet, been any formal bidding. When asked in a press conference about the speculation, Howe firmly stated: "No, incorrect, you're way off. Matt is injured and has still got some way to go in his injury. He's also a big part of what we're doing here."

Aberdeen 'investigate' EFL target

Watford defender Mattie Pollock is on a list of names that Aberdeen manager Barry Robson and his recruitment team are investigating (Daily Record). Pollock enjoyed a successful stint with the Dons last season and is now amongst a list of central defensive targets Barry Robson and his team are looking into ahead of January. It remains to be seen whether this would even be a possibility from the Championship side after their central defender played 90 minutes in the weekend's FA Cup draw against Southampton.

Aberdeen's defensive options have been hugely hampered by Slobodan Rubezic's injury and the Pittodrie side have confirmed that they are waiting on updates on both his and Stefan Gartenmann's situation. The latter came off against the Dons' 2-0 defeat to Heart in which the Aberdeen fans showed banners saying: "Robson must go."