Muff 245 Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 CELTIC have taken Chivas USA's Sacha Kljestan on trial for a week as they step up their bid to crack the American market. The 23-year-old attacking midfielder left the US national training camp in Los Angeles last night, where he was preparing for a friendly against Sweden on January 24, and will train at Lennoxtown under Hoops boss Gordon Strachan until next Friday. Rated in the £1-2million bracket, Kljestan has also attracted interest from Heerenveen, FC Twente, Monaco, Leverkusen, Schalke, Wolfsburg, Olympiakos and Zenit St Petersburg. But Celtic have jumped to the head of the chasing pack by reaching agreement with Chivas to bring the 6ft 1in Californian in on trial. The American club would be happy to do business and coach Preki Radosavljevic confirmed today: "We don't want to stand in anybody's way. advertisement "If Sacha stays with us, that's great. If he makes it to that level, that's great recognition for the club and we wish him all the best. "Right now, we don't know what's going to happen. We'll just wait and see." With one eye on the North American market, Celtic have been searching for the right player to bring in for three or four seasons. Last year they thought they had found him in keeper Brad Guzan, a team-mate of Kljestan at Chivas. After he spent a week training at Lennoxtown, Guzan was offered a deal. But he turned it down and instead signed for Aston Villa. Another American keeper, Dominic Cervi, was handed a contract. But Celtic are still waiting on him obtaining an EU passport - his grandparents were Italian - or a work permit before he is eligible to play in anything other than bounce games. Kljestan would find it easier to get the necessary permit as he broke through to the full national side two years ago and has seven caps. He was also a key member of the Olympic team last year, alongside Rangers midfielder Maurice Edu. Kljestan will be training with a group of players who are already leading the SPL by five points, and experienced midfielder Paul Hartley is confident they can continue to hold off the challenge being thrown down by Rangers. The Ibrox side can close the gap to two points when they play Falkirk tomorrow. But, as he prepares to head to Aberdeen on Sunday, Hartley said: "Rangers will push us all the way. We know it's going to be difficult, but we have to make sure we're ready for it." http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/displa...2482228.0.0.php Sacha Kljstan is a good player! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasGers 96 Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 I've also heard Utrecht and Twente were after him, but it seems the other side are intent on signing him. He's a very good player though, he should be a mainstay in the US team in a couple of years. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
disgruntled_bear 157 Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 Hopefully he see's the light and does a Guzan. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMWWBK 0 Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 Why is Sacha lowering himself to trials? He's proved himself enough over the past year. I'll be gutted if he goes, i've been saying we should take a look at the little fella' for a while now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOLUWDC 1 Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 SkySports said it would cost Celtic about £3.5 million. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_glasgow 2 Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 cracking player. a player we should have been looking at the start of the season and not fcuk wits like Mhiller and Velica Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart_RFC 41 Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 Pish Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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