Hoops stay on Kadlec trail

Celtic are still tracking Czech defender Michal Kadlec and his agent gives them a 50-50 chance of getting their man.

Discussions with Sparta Prague continue for the highly-rated 21-year-old but the Bank of Scotland Premier League champions, who are working hard behind the scenes on signing new players, are reluctant to meet their asking price.

Kadlec’s agent Eliot van Til told PA Sport: “Negotiations are ongoing and I would say it’s 50-50 at the moment.

“A lot of transfers are like this and can be procrastinated so we will just have to see what happens.”

Celtic skipper Neil Lennon is still hoping to start the season with at Parkhead.

The 34-year-old midfielder cast fresh doubts as to whether he will sign a one-year contract amid the suggestions that his situation was well down the club’s list of priorities.

But the Northern Irishman and his agent will continue discussions with the club throughout the summer.

His agent Mark Donaghy said: “We are still speaking with Celtic and these things are ongoing.”

The club are also favourites to land Quinton Fortune if they are satisfied with his medical results.

The South African international’s career at Manchester United was hindered by constant injury problems.

But the 29-year-old was happy to undergo a rigorous medical at Parkhead yesterday and is hoping the club are sufficiently satisfied with the results to resume contract talks.

“He had a fitness test yesterday and hopefully Celtic will get those results back today or over the weekend,” said Fortune’s agent, Francis Martin.

“Until they come back we will not know what Celtic want to do. Once the scan is checked and everything is okay then contract talks can begin. We don’t envisage any problems.

“Quinton was pleased with what he saw and we are more than happy to start the discussions.

“Hopefully they can begin later today or over the weekend and then we can see where we go next.”

John Hartson still feels let down by Celtic after denying he has been trying to leave the club for months.

The striker’s agent Jonathan Barnett released a joint statement with Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell in which both men insisted Hartson sought permission to speak to interested clubs before the end of last season.

Hartson stressed that, following heart-to-heart talks with both Lawwell and Gordon Strachan, he had made up his mind to stay at Celtic despite the breakdown of his marriage.

Hartson added: “Everybody knows my personal situation was complicated for a while. It still is.

“But by the time we sat down for those talks at the end of the season things had become much more settled and straightforward.

“During the discussions with Gordon Strachan, Peter Lawwell and my agent, we decided I was staying.”