Celtic are set to do battle with Bournemouth for Preston North End defender Ben Davies according to Daily Record.
The SPL giants are said to be interested in completing a deal for the 25-year-old but they face competition from the Cherries with the Championship side having already had a bid of around £5million rejected for the defender.
Davies has a year remaining on his contract at Deepdale and manager Alex Neil is eager to keep him at the club beyond that.
Neil was questioned regarding any interest in Davies and said: “If they were coming to buy him? Yeah, well if they’ve got £10million then maybe.”
“Peter Ridsdale would probably tell you £20million. Absolutely not been any contact as far as I’m aware.”
Celtic have recently completed the loan signing of Brighton and Hove Albion defender Shane Duffy but are keen to bring in more defensive reinforcements with interest mounting in Kris Ajer.
For Preston, there is also speculation regarding the future of Daniel Johnson and both he and Davies are key players for the club and will be keen to ensure they both remain with Preston for this season.
To acquire someone of the quality of Davies this summer would be a shrewd piece of business for Celtic or Bournemouth and with both clubs eyeing up a move this could lead into somewhat of an auction for the defender
Preston started their season with a 1-0 defeat to Swansea and will be looking to bounce back in their next league fixture against Norwich City next weekend.