Celtic have made an enquiry for West Ham striker Callum Wilson as they continue to scramble for new recruits in the January transfer window.
The 33-year-old England international is in the process of cancelling his contract with the Premier League club and is expected to become a free agent over the next few days.
Ex-Newcastle star Wilson had already been linked with the Parkhead side this month, but Everton are weighing up an offer along with Saudi Arabian clubs.
He has not appeared in West Ham manager Nuno Espirito Santo’s last two matchday squads after slipping down the pecking order behind new arrivals Taty Castellanos and Pablo.
Celtic have now made an initial enquiry, having failed to adequately replace strikers Kyogo Furuhashi and Adam Idah since they left the club last year.
Boss Martin O’Neill admitted after Wednesday’s 1-0 win over Falkirk that signing a new hit-man is among his priorities as he prepares for a three-way title race with Hearts and Rangers.
Celtic have made enquiry for West Ham and England striker Callum Wilson
Celtic boss Martin O’Neill admits that finding a centre forward is one of his priorities
‘You can tell that we definitely need to get a centre-forward,’ said the 73-year-old Northern Irishman. ‘Young Johnny Kenny has done really fine in the games but I think it’s really harsh to put that kind of pressure on a young lad.’
The champions have also been linked with a move for David Datro Fofana, Chelsea’s Ivory Coast international who is set to have his loan at Turkish side Fatih Karagumruk cut short, and Croatian forward Franko Kovacevic, who plays with NK Celje in Slovenia.
Despite evidently needing fresh faces all over the park, Celtic have arrived in mid-January with the loan signing of Julian Araujo the sum total of their business to date.
Meanwhile, Benjamin Nygren has warned that Celtic are in danger of dropping crucial points in the title race if their performances don’t improve soon.
The Swede scored the only goal of the game against the Bairns, ensuring Celtic remained six points behind leaders Hearts in second place.
The overall display, though, was in sharp contrast to the four-goal win over Dundee United on O’Neill’s return to the dug-out last Saturday.
Benjamin Nygren scored the only goal of the game against Falkirk this week, but admitted the champions have to improve their performances
Celtic face Auchinleck Talbot in the Scottish Cup on Sunday, followed by Bologna in the Europa League and a trip to Tynecastle.
Nygren conceded that the team will run out of luck if there isn’t a marked improvement from the last display.
‘We all know that we need to put in stronger performances to win games,’ he said. ‘Today was not good enough. We cannot continue with performances like this, but we got the win and we’re very pleased with that. For sure, I can give Falkirk some credit. They played a good game, but we didn’t.’
