Celtic are interested in signing Nathan Byrne this summer according to a fresh report.

What's the talk?

Via the Daily Record, the Hoops have identified the Derby County right-back as a potential signing to bolster their defensive options this summer.

The report claims he has been singled out by the scouting department as a player who could be a good addition to the group, but Ange Postecoglou has not given the green light as of yet.

Ange needs him

Postecoglou needs Byrne this summer following Jonjoe Kenny's return to Everton after his loan spell with the club during the second half of last season.

The Toffees full-back was brought in after Jeremie Frimpong joined Bayer Leverkusen in January and Byrne could finally be the ex-Man City man's replacement ahead of the 2021/22 campaign.

Frimpong averaged a WhoScored rating of 6.86 in the Scottish Premiership last term for the Hoops, providing one goal and two assists; this highlights what Postecoglou is missing in his squad. Byrne, meanwhile, achieved a score of 6.81 in the Championship for Derby, failing to score but providing four assists for his teammates.

Derby journalist Ryan Conway once praised the development he has made in an attacking sense. He said:

“Again, Nathan Byrne was excellent again, really, really good – and out there, he was very vocal out there as well.

“What has been so pleasing about Nathan is when he first came to Derby, he was much more of a defensive-minded right-back. His final product and his attacking qualities weren’t great; they were okay, but he was much more of an accomplished defender than he was an attacker.

“As the season’s gone on, Nathan’s got really, really good at getting quality crosses into the box, and he did that again [against Millwall].”

This shows that the Englishman could be an apt replacement for Frimpong and be a solid addition to Postecoglou's team. He is a reliable defender and proved that with his 2.7 tackles and interceptions per game for the Rams in the second tier of English football.

He also offered plenty of attacking threat down the right.

The £11k-per-week dynamo has racked up 14 assists in the past three seasons combined, showing that he can get forward from defence and put in quality crosses to aid the attack. Therefore, Celtic must ensure that they get a deal done for the full-back.

AND in other news, Postecoglou may be on the verge of his first Celtic howler, fans would be furious...