OPINION
The door is surely wide open for Oliver Ntcham to leave Celtic before the end of the month after the Scottish champions crashed out of the Champions League on Tuesday night.
A 2-1 defeat to AEK Athens in Greek capital saw the Hoops drop into the Europa League, and that could have serious ramifications for the future of key player Ntcham.
According to a recent report by RMC Sport on their live transfer blog on Monday [04:24pm], Porto have held meetings about signing the 22-year-old French midfielder, who has been in top form for the Bhoys since he was snapped up from Manchester City last summer.
It was understood that while the Portuguese giants are yet to table an offer for Ntcham, an exit from the Champions League could leave them with an opening to lure the midfielder away from Glasgow.
And after Celtic’s 3-2 aggregate defeat to AEK, there is surely now a huge chance for Porto to strike and get their man.
Ntcham has been one of Celtic’s most impressive players over the last 12 months and played very well for the club before the defeat in Greece on Tuesday night.
He has already scored against Rosenborg and Livingston, and if he was included for the game with Hearts at the weekend, the result probably wouldn’t have been a defeat for the reigning Scottish champions.
It would be unthinkable to lose Ntcham but given how poorly run the transfer business is at Parkhead at the moment, anything seems to be a possibility.
Ntcham has the quality to play for Porto and they will have the appeal and money to be able to make this move a reality.
Celtic had better hope that the Frenchman can be loyal though, because at the moment, the aftermath revolving around Tuesday defeat to AEK looks as though it could rumble on for some time.