Celtic have been on the hunt for a new manager for nearly three months now but the end could finally be in sight.

Advanced talks were in full flow at the beginning of April as the top brass at Parkhead moved closer to discovering Neil Lennon’s successor; Eddie Howe.

What’s the word?

Celtic have struggled to get a deal across the line in the last month or so but there is a light at the end of the tunnel beginning to emerge.

That’s because talks with Howe are now being finalised with the view to appointing him as the club’s new boss in the near future.

The Daily Mail reported last week that he was now drawing up plans to conclude who he wanted as his backroom staff and it would appear that most issues have now been ironed out.

That’s due to an update from freelance journalist Stuart Hodge, who has, in the past, written for outlets like Sky Sports and the Daily Record.

Taking to Twitter, he shared the following news on Celtic’s manager hunt: "Hearing from various sources now that an Eddie Howe agreement has been struck and that Celtic FC will announce him as manager in the very near future. The Englishman will become the 21st manager in the history of Celtic."

Exciting news

After the long arduous wait for an announcement, it would appear that Celtic supporters could finally have something to savour and celebrate.

That’s a feeling that the club’s supporters arguably haven’t felt since December when they won last season’s delayed Scottish Cup final.

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Since that moment, it has been a diabolical and shambolic state of affairs at Paradise.

The Green Brigade have protested outside the stadium and Dermot Desmond has been questioned over his ownership of the football club.

You can hardly blame the toxic environment, though. Celtic have relinquished their grasp on the Premiership to Rangers and they also crashed out of this season’s Scottish Cup to the same opposition.

The very fact the hierarchy trusted in Lennon for so long was also an unhelpful situation, a scenario that hasn’t been aided by their lack of clarity over his successor either.

Clearly unprepared for his departure in February, Desmond and co have spent the last few months trying to find an able replacement.

Whether Howe will be good enough remains to be seen but his record with Bournemouth certainly has to be admired.

The 43-year-old took the Cherries from the fourth tier of English football to the Premier League and managed to establish them in the top-flight playing an eye-catching brand of football.

The coach definitely won’t have things easy but the supporters should be excited at what’s to come now they’re so close to a new seeing a new manager come in.

Finally, they can begin to prepare for a better, and hopefully a brighter, future.

AND in other news, Hoops given financial boost after big Celtic news emerges, McKay surely buzzing...