TWTD understands former Blues loanee Bersant Celina’s loan move to Turkish side Kasımpaşa from parent club Dijon has fallen through.

Celina was in Istanbul to complete his switch to the Süper Lig club yesterday but we understand that deal has now broken down.

Prior to the Kosovo international’s proposed Turkish move, Town had been in talks with the forward regarding his return to Portman Road for a third spell - a loan with a view to a permanent move as was the case with Kasımpaşa - for much of the summer with the player understood to be keen on the switch but having been unable to come to an agreement with the player regarding terms.

The Blues signed Marcus Harness, who can operate in similar roles to Celina, on Friday and although it was believed Town were still keen, it’s understood no further contact was made following the addition of the former Pompey attacker. However, the Kasımpaşa move breaking down could well see the Blues renew their interest.

As revealed last week, Stoke looked to be the 25-year-old’s destination until his work permit situation caused the proposed switch to collapse.

In addition to Kasımpaşa, another Turkish club Antalyaspor also held talks and earlier in the summer Preston were keen but their interest is understood to have cooled and would anyway have been impacted by the work permit issue, which affects all English clubs.

Other clubs could also come into the running with Scottish Premiership Rangers now believed to be keen, although with that interest understood to be in its very early stages. Scottish clubs are not affected by the work permit situation as they have an exemption.

Dijon remain in French Ligue 2 and have needed Celina, who has another two years left on his contract, off their wage bill for the season ahead with the one-time Swansea man not having joined them for the start of pre-season.

Celina spent last season on loan at Town having previously been with the Blues during 2017/18 while a Manchester City player and is very much a fans' favourite at Portman Road.

Photo: Matchday Images

oldelsworthyfan added 14:33 - Jul 20 Spend the wages on a player capable of 20 goals in the season.
2

Welshblue72 added 14:34 - Jul 20 Personally I think we should move on. First he was signing for stoke, then he's travelled to Turkey with all intentions to sign a deal so to me can't be that eager to move to us. Would his heart really be in it.
1

SaigonTractor added 14:42 - Jul 20 My heart can't take all this.
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tractorboybig added 14:58 - Jul 20 well we are third choice then
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ipswich134 added 15:07 - Jul 20 Maybe it's all fated that he will return to us. Just maybe…
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blues1 added 15:18 - Jul 20 Let's put all the hype over celina into perspective. Yes, he's a good player. I'm not denying that. A number of fans state he'd be the difference between promotion or missing out? Well he was here last season, and we finished 11th. So no, clearly not. He scored 6 goals and had 6 assists last season. Not a bad return. Harness, who can play in celinas position, scored 12 goals and had 7 assists for Pompey last season. So who are we better off with? Of course, there's no guarantee that he'll do that again, tho he did get 10 the previous season too, so seems fairly consistent. For me, I dont see the value in signing celina again when we have other players who can play that position, (other than Harness), too. Need a striker more than we do him.

5

JewellintheTown added 15:18 - Jul 20 If you've seen the stadium location, I'm not surprised its off. Rough as a bears backside. 14k capacity too.
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Len_Brennan added 15:32 - Jul 20 I don't know if signing Celina would hamper our chances of a deal to sign a striker due to the current rules for League 1 clubs, but I would imagine the club thought it wouldn't as we were looking to sign both Celina & Hirst last week. Perhaps signing Harness will have affected it though. The report above does suggest that a deal could not be done with us as we were unable to come to an agreement with the player regarding terms. Blues1 is probably right in that it comes down to the player's wages & what percentage of his contracted wages we were willing to cover. Dijon may be demanding a far higher contribution this year, as he is not coming out of a bad dose of covid & he got a bit of attention with some performances last season. If we were not prepared to meet that, and perhaps the Turkish side were prepared to, then Celina would have had to voluntarily forego 'that' percentage of a contracted wage in order to sign for us. Apart from Macauley Bonne, I can't think of too many players that would do that to come here. That doesn't make him a bad guy or suggest he doesn't care about the club. If the interest from Rangers is genuine, he will probably go there though, as they can cover his wages, offer European football & a bigger stage for him right now. I hope he comes back here though.

2

OliveR16 added 15:50 - Jul 20 I don't think we need him, to put it bluntly.
4

mutters added 15:59 - Jul 20 Love the people saying he should just drop his demands and come and play for Town. If he is on £20k per week and we are only offering say £8k per week, why on earth would he lose out on so much money? There is loyalty and then there is reality.....
0

greenkingtone added 16:03 - Jul 20 Agree Blues1. He's fking everybody about. Move on get a decent CF.
3

churchmans added 16:06 - Jul 20 Sorry but he ain't all that! Move on and let's sign a goalscorer or we ain't going up
4

Karlosfandangal added 16:18 - Jul 20 Prefer Chaplin who played more would get 15 goals a season
3

martin587 added 16:25 - Jul 20 Just move on I doubt very much we will sign him now.Biggest priority is a No 9 and LB.
5

Powrigan added 16:47 - Jul 20 Not sure I would want a player who views us as a 3rd choice option.
1

dirtydingusmagee added 16:53 - Jul 20 cant understand all the fuss to be honest, we move on .
6

blues1 added 17:06 - Jul 20 Churchmans. Yes, wezcan do with another striker for sure. Not sure if we don't thatd mean us not going up tho. If ladapo was to say get the 15 he got last season, jj maybe say, 10, burns around the 13 he got last season, harness the 12 he got, jackson get a few, say 10, morsy looks like he could score a few too, then there's chaplin. So there's goals there. But yes, one more could make a difference.

0

Tractor_Boy_in_HK added 17:18 - Jul 20 @blues1 It's about us. I had to read the sentence a few times, but it is about us. "Prior to the Kosovo international's proposed Turkish move, Town had been in talks with the forward regarding his return to Portman Road ... for much of the summer with the player understood to be keen on the switch but having been unable to come to an agreement with the player regarding terms."

1

SamWhiteUK added 17:36 - Jul 20 JaySwitch, are you ever going to comment anything productive? I'd wager you're one of the sad little losers who run one of the Tw@ter accounts, jealous that TWTD actually know what they're talking about rather than just throwing sh1t at a wall and hoping it sticks.
0

therein61 added 17:43 - Jul 20 All this(he's going here there and every flipping where and breaking down) tells me Please buy me Town!!! so do we want him or not??
1

blues1 added 17:59 - Jul 20 Tractorboy in hk. Yes, thats what the article says but think you'll find its worded incorrectly. When u sign a player on loan, u don't negotiate with the player. As his wages will be exactly what hes getting at his parent club. Therefore the only negotiations are with the club regarding a loan fee and the percentage of the wages we would be asked to pay. They may well have done that through the players agent but its not a negotiation with the player. Whereas the Turkish club would likely havexbedn negotiating with him due to their deal being with a view to buy next year.

2

RobsonWark added 19:01 - Jul 20 I don't want him here now. If he thought that much of ITFC and wanted to be with us he would have signed straight away. I don't want us to be third best choice for him. We need players that want to be here and want to get us promoted. He obviously does not fit that requirement. Enjoy Dijon Celina!
0

gosblue added 19:18 - Jul 20 Get Hirst in then see what's left in the wages pot. If we can't afford both then decision made.
0

cressi added 19:44 - Jul 20 Would I pay him more than the likes of Morsey and Walton who are consistent never lower than a 7 out of 10. Definitely not if he wants more forgot it . A centre forward and another left wing back far more pressing
1

HookofHolland added 20:13 - Jul 20 Wages better spent on a striker (or 2)
2

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