Oliver Sorensen and Joel van den Berg emerge as late transfer targets as Celtic seek to beat the clock ahead of looming deadline

Celtic are aiming to beat the clock with a flurry of late signings ahead of this week’s transfer deadlines.

The Parkhead club are anxious to snap up midfielders Oliver Sorensen and Joel van den Berg before they run out of time.

And left-back Niels Nkounkou is another who could bolster their squad in what remains of the summer window.

While the Scottish deadline is at 5pm on Thursday, Celtic have until 11pm the night before to register players for the Europa League.

The club’s board are under pressure to move fast, having come under fire for failing to plug significant gaps in the squad.

After a sixth consecutive Champions League qualifying failure, fans are worried that the club’s high-profile departures have not been adequately replaced.

Celtic have signed four players this summer – strikers Kasper Hogh and Camilo Duran, winger Haissem Hassan and midfielder Mika Baur. That tally is fewer than all the other 41 SPFL clubs.

They sold key players Daizen Maeda and Arne Engels, lost goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel to a career-ending injury and did not trigger a contract extension for forward Kelechi Iheanacho.

They also saw six loan players depart while offloading midfielder Paulo Bernardo and winger Michel Ange-Balikwisha on loan.

With right-back Alistair Johnston out with a hamstring injury until October and fitness concerns over Hogh, Kieran Tierney and Callum Osmand, Celtic are under pressure to strengthen.

They are expected to boost their midfield with the arrivals of Sorensen from Parma and Van den Berg from PSV Eindhoven.

Former Denmark Under-21 international Sorensen is reported to be joining on a season-long loan with an option to buy.

The 24-year-old made more than 100 appearances for Midtjylland before joining Parma last summer. He has played 34 times in Serie A.

Van den Berg has only made a handful of first-team appearances for PSV but the 19-year-old has captained the Netherlands at his age group and is reported to be joining for an initial £3million fee.

Reports in France also claim that Celtic are looking to beat Nice to the loan signing of Eintracht Frankfurt left-back Nkounkou.

The 25-year-old spent some time with Everton but largely played on loan before joining Frankfurt in 2023. He spent last season on loan with Torino.

Celtic previously explored a loan deal for Chelsea left-back Landon Emenalo but were waiting for the 18-year-old to shrug off an injury.

Midfielder Reo Hatate is expected to depart Celtic before Thursday’s deadline after falling out of favour under Martin O’Neill.