Hull City and Coventry City have emerged as among the clubs also showing interest in former Blues loanee Bersant Celina.
As previously reported, Town had been in talks with the Kosovan international and his current club Dijon regarding an ambitious return to Portman Road for some weeks with rumours regarding the Blues’ interest circulating on the TWTD Forum and social media towards the end of last week.
However, as we reported on Friday, other clubs from higher divisions were also keen, although with Celina and his representatives showing genuine interest in the Blues’ approach.
According to the EADT, Championship sides Hull City and Coventry are two of those clubs, while sides from the Dutch top flight, where Celina previously played on loan with FC Twente in 2016/17, are also said to be showing interest.
The 24-year-old spent 2017/18 on loan with the Blues from Manchester City, making 26 starts and 12 sub appearances, scoring eight times, in a successful spell under Mick McCarthy’s management.
Norway-raised Celina left City for Swansea in the summer of 2018 for £3 million - having made one senior start and three sub appearances for the Citizens - and went on to make 65 starts and 14 sub appearances for the Swans, scoring 10 times, before being sold to Dijon for a reported £2.7 million in September 2020, signing a four-year contract.
During 2020/21, 5ft 11in tall Celina made 26 starts and seven sub appearances in all competitions for Dijon without finding the net as they were relegated from Ligue 1 after finishing bottom of the table.
Capped by the Norwegians at U16, U17 and U21 levels, Celina subsequently switched allegiance to his native Kosovo for whom he has played U21 and senior games. He has now taken his full caps total to 29, scoring twice.