Celtic to Make First Signing of Wilfried Nancy Era
Celtic have reportedly agreed a loan deal for Bournemouth right-back Julian Araujo. The Mexican international has made the trip to Glasgow from the South coast tonight as the clubs continue to negotiate a deal before Celtic’s derby clash against Rangers this Saturday. Araujo is said to be keen to register as much game time as possible to remain in contention of making Mexico’s World Cup squad as they host the tournament alongside the USA and Canada. Bournemouth have exceeded the limit of loans out to international clubs, meaning the Premier League side will have to recall someone before Araujo receives the green light for the green and white. It is unknown which loan will be sacrificed for Araujo’s switch to go through, yet Cherries boss Andoni Iraola is keen for the player to move having only played him once this season, in a cup tie defeat at home to Brentford where the 24-year-old was sent off in added time. Celtic manager Wilfried Nancy will be keen to reinforce his squad as quickly as possible after five defeats in his first seven games has seen supporter backing for him reach an all time low. The Frenchman has been aware of Araujo since he emerged as one of the top talents in the MLS when he came through at LA Galaxy, eventually earning a move to Spanish giants Barcelona in 2023 at the same time Nancy was at CF Montreal and Columbus Crew. Araujo, who made one cap for the U.S national side before switching allegiance, signed a 5-year deal with Bournemouth in 2024 for £10m, and made 12 Premier League appearances in his maiden season. Reports have also suggested that Manchester City will be terminating the loan of Jahmai Simpson-Pusey. The right sided centre half has played just once in his time at Celtic so far this season.
Former Aviva Stadium CEO Takes Commercial Officer Job at Rangers
David French has been announced as Rangers new Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) at Ibrox after leaving his role at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. French left his role in the Irish capital in early 2025 helping organise matchday events for both the Irish Football and Rugby teams, along with handling non-sporting events such as concerts that were held at the stadium. Before settling in Ireland, French had worked as the Director of Venue at Manchester United and was also the General Manager of the Mercedes-Benz stadium in Shanghai, China. He is described as a “commercially focused leader with extensive experience in finance and commercial roles.” This is according to his professional LinkedIn profile. The CCO position at Ibrox had been empty since Sean Jefferson left the club at the end of last season, who had the role on an interim basis. This comes as Rangers chairman Andrew Cavanagh and vice-chairman Paraag Marathe have taken a more hands-on approach to running the club since the failures of Russell Martin, Kevin Thelwell and Patrick Stewart earlier on this season. Danny Rohl has taken over as Rangers head coach from Martin, and we at SNN Sports announced that Stig Inge Bjørnebye had arrived at Rangers as a football consultant, a role similar to the director of football title held by Thelwell. It is unknown when a successor to Stewart as CEO will be announced however French as CCO will be tasked with using Ibrox and neighbouring Edmiston House to drive up revenue with both footballing and non-footballing ventures for the club. It is also believed that over the past few weeks Cavanagh and Marathe have started to get towards the end of their recruitment process for the various empty roles in the Rangers boardroom. It is anticipated that there will be more movement on this front from Rangers in the near future as the club continues to rebuild itself on and off the pitch after the disastrous state the club was in just a number of months ago. Read our article on Rangers’ announcement of Stig Inge Bjørnebye here: Rangers Announce Stig Inge Bjørnebye as Football Advisor
Kilmarnock Manager Shortlist Whittling Down With Interviews Scheduled
Kilmarnock’s shortlist for the next manager will be narrowed further as the Ayrshire side interview their preferred candidates over the weekend. Former Hearts and Dundee United boss Robbie Neilson has been identified as a target, as well as Aberdeen coach Peter Leven. The Rugby Park outfit sacked Stuart Kettlewell just over two weeks ago after a winless run of 10 games, and the 41-year-old is already back in the dugout, returning to Ross County where he played and managed, winning promotion to the Scottish Premiership in both spells. Neilson guided Hearts back to the Premiership in his first spell as Jambos manager, before doing the same with Dundee United four years later in 2020. He made it a hat-trick of Championship promotions when he left for Hearts in the same year, and also finished runner-up in a penalty shootout Scottish Cup Final defeat to Celtic. After leaving Scotland in 2022, the former Scottish international’s last managerial role was with Tampa Bay Rowdies in the USL, before linking up with former Killie midfielder Lee Johnson at Belgian side Lommel SK to become his assistant. Leven also enjoyed time at Rugby Park as a player from 2004 to 2007, as well as two years as assistant manager to Gary Locke and Lee McCulloch from 2015 to 2017. His only experience as head coach has came at Belarusian side Dynamo Brest’s B team, as well as a handful of matches as Aberdeen caretaker, having been part of the Pittodrie setup since 2023. Steve Bruce has also been linked with the vacant post, with his son Alex incidentally playing one season at Kilmarnock from 2019-2020. The 65-year-old did say he would be unlikely to manage again however, following his dismissal from English League One side Blackpool three months ago. Killie released a statement yesterday from their Board of Directors, saying they ‘expect to have a first team manager in place next week’, which would set up a potential first clash against 12th placed Livingston, of whom Kilmarnock only sit 4 points above in 11th.
