Transfer news: Celtic rejects a new EPL bid, Rangers raise their offer for a La Liga player, and Shankland’s price is fixed.…….

Scottish under-21 internationalmidfielder Marc Leonard is ‘pretty close’ to completing a £500k transfer to Birmingham City, the Midlands club have revealed. Head coach Chris Davies confirmed the club are confident of the signing of Leonard last night following their 2-1 friendly victory over Rangers. The 22-year-old Brighton player was in attendance at St. Andrew’s as the Blues took a well-deserved victory over their Glasgow opponents thanks to an own goal from James Tavernier and second strike from Alfie May. Leonard, who spent last two seasons on loan to Northampton Town, has featured for Scot Gemmill’s under-21 side a total of seven times having moved south to join the Seagulls in 2018 as a teenager. He has previously been on the books of both Hearts and Rangers as an academy player.

Hearts stand firm on Shankland fee amid fresh Rangers link

Tynecastle boss Steven Naismith has insisted there has been no change to the future of hotshot striker Lawrence Shankland after he was again . Reports had claimed Gers boss Phillipe Clement was set for a ‘U-turn’ on the striker and would launch a £3 million bid if he was able to raise funds in the coming weeks. However, Naismith has insisted the club will not budge on their reported valuation of between £4m and £5m for the Scotland international. “At every club in Scotland, every player has a value,” Naismith told the. “It doesn’t always sit with the general rule of thumb, where a player’s contract is running down so they have lost a lot of value in terms of what the club could receive. Scotland is slightly different because of the finances in general in Scottish football. On top of that, the financial rewards of getting into Europe are so great that, if you have an asset who is going to help you do that, then that adds value. That’s simply it. For us, there is no change at all from where it was last summer or from where it was in January.