Scottish Premier League giants Glasgow Celtic look all set to sign Algerian international defender Rafik Halliche in the winter transfer market in January after the 25 year old centre back impressed The Hoops boss Neil Lennon during his weeklong trial at Parkhead. Halliche is still contracted to English Premier League club Fulham from Portuguese giants Benfica in 2010, which he joined after impressing with his performances against England and the United States of America during last summer’s FIFA World Cup held in South Africa.
However, The Hoops must be aware that the FIFA denied his international clearance to play for Swansea City, with whom he had signed before the start of the 2011 English Premier League campaign and that could be the only worry for The Bhoys in their search for a new defender after being seriously shorthanded with injuries to the first team players. According to Glasgow Celtic manager Neil Lennon has said in a recent press conference that he was very pleased with the trialist from Algeria and also stated that he hopes to sign the defender to strengthen the team in the January transfer window and all that needs to be sorted out is the price for the player with Fulham, his parent club.
The Green and Whites are not in the best of states in the Scottish Premier League where they still trail bitter rivals Glasgow Rangers by quite a points’ margin and the main reason for this has been attributed to the lack of solidity in defense for The Bhoys who have not been able to field all their first choice defenders at any point in the season. Whether Rafik Halliche can help Glasgow Celtic turn their season around and bring them the SPL title is another story altogether, provided his transfer from Fulham goes as smoothly as planned.