Former Celtic star Chris Sutton has said that he has been surprised by the club’s pursuit of Shane Duffy this summer. The Republic of Ireland international has been a key player for Brighton & Hove Albion since their promotion to the top-flight, but he is free to leave them on loan this summer as he does not have the guarantee of regular game time.

He was initially fancied to make the switch to either West Ham United or Newcastle United, but over the past few weeks, the Hoops have jumped ahead of the duo to land his signature. The Scottish champions appear on the cusp of announcing his arrival and Sutton believes his former club could make a statement by bringing him.

“I think that would be a really good piece of business if Celtic can get that over the line. At first when the rumours came out, I thought that can’t be possible. But the longer this goes, I’m hearing there may be a possibility of him coming in. And if he does come in I think Ally (McCoist) will be worried for his team (Rangers),” Sutton said on BT Sport’s Scottish Football Extra while sitting alongside Rangers legend Ally McCoist.

Duffy has shown over the years that he has a good aerial presence at the back and he has also been a threat from set-pieces with few goals. His arrival should provide an upgrade on the defensive options at Parkhead and he should get into the starting lineup ahead of either Christopher Jullien or Kristoffer Ajer this term.

The Hoops also have Nir Bitton to provide competition for the central defensive roles. Celtic have accumulated 10 points from the opening four games of the league season. Neil Lennon’s side are currently six points behind leaders Rangers with two games in hand. Meanwhile, they have bowed out of the Champions League with a shock 2-1 home defeat to Ferencvaros in the second qualifying round. The club will now enter the third qualifying stage of the Europa League.