U-21 Championship top scorer to Celtic

Celtic have just about wrapped up a great deal for European Under-21 Championships Golden Boot winner Maceo Rigters from NAC Breda for only 400,000 pounds nudging out arch rivals Rangers.

It’s a steal; the fee triggers a buyout clause in Rigters contract. Breda director of football Earnie Stewart has confirmed that Celtic had expressed an interest in the player.

The 23-year-old Dutch striker was very impressive during the tournament. In fact, next to Royston Drenthe he was Holland’s best player. Rigters has two years left to run on his Breda contract but the club announced that they were prepared to listen to offers from interested clubs.

And did they get interest. No less than 5 clubs lodged bids for the player in recent days. One is Newcastle United, the others are Rangers and Celtic, the other two are a mystery. The low buyout clause seems to have spread chum in the water.

Rigters scored four goals for Holland during the finals as they secured their second consecutive U-21 crown. While he was on fire at the tournament, he scored just three times in 32 league appearances for Breda last season. Paired with Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink up front next season, the explosive striker should prove more potent.

"We are just waiting for NAC to tell us which clubs we can talk to and that is likely to happen on Monday." –Celtic

Here he is with a bicycle kick to save the game against England: