FOOTBALL GOSSIP
Winger Oliver Burke is “excited” about his move to Germany after Nottingham Forest agreed to sell him to Red Bull Leipzig in a £13m deal, which makes him the most expensive Scottish player of all time. (Various)
West Brom’s £1m-rated Costa Rican right-back Cristian Gamboa is of interest to Celtic ahead of Wednesday’s transfer deadline. (Daily Mail, Daily Record)
Ahead of the World Cup qualifier against Malta on Sunday, the Scotland medical team are assessing the fitness of midfielder Robert Snodgrass, who collided with a goal post in Hull’s defeat by Manchester United, and Celtic striker Leigh Griffiths, who has a hamstring problem. (Various)
Malta’s Italian manager Pietro Ghedin, known for his defensive approach to matches, says he does not have “time to try new systems” ahead of the Scots’ visit. (Daily Record)
Ghedin, whose team are 176th in the world rankings, admits his team are underdogs “nearly every time” they play, and he hopes they can snatch something against Scotland from “a corner, a free-kick, a penalty”. (Sun)
On loan from Birmingham City in search of regular football, Andrew Shinnie, who scored in Hibernian’s 4-0 win over Morton, says it felt great to wake up on Saturday morning knowing he had a game to play. (Daily Express)
Aberdeen scorer Adam Rooney, reflecting on the Dons’ 4-1 defeat by Celtic in Glasgow on Saturday, points out: “If you take the two goals late on out of it, it was a 2-1 game”. (Daily Record)
Celtic’s goalkeeper in that game, the Dutchman Dorus de Vries, is determined to help his new club stay at the top of the Scottish Premiership and, having ousted Craig Gordon, says it is good that there is competition for places. (Various)
Barcelona’s vice president Jordi Mestre feels the Champions League game between his club and Celtic is “not only a football match”, arguing that it’s “an emotional match for Catalans and for the Scots”. Mestre claims Celtic should always be in the Champions League.(Various)
Rangers’ 37-year-old defender Clint Hill promises the fans “more” against Celtic than the team’s efforts in the 1-1 draw with Kilmarnock on Friday. “We need to start producing a full game of decent football,” he says. (Various)
Kilmarnock are weighing up a move for 21-year-old Morton striker Gary Oliver, for whom the Ton paid Queen of the South £20,000 this summer. (Daily Record)
And the Rugby Park club could be on the verge of a move for Sheffield United’s 24-year-old right-back Kieron Freeman. (Sun)
Former Hibs striker Garry O’Connor hopes Jason Cummings is not lured away from Easter Road by a late summer transfer because the striker is “not the finished article, not by a long way”. (Scotsman)
OTHER GOSSIP
Ahead of the US Open, John McEnroe says Andy Murray is “playing the best tennis of his life” and has been “meticulous”. (Scotsman)
Laura Muir admits to being stunned by her Diamond League 1500m race in Paris on Saturday in which she beat the Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon into second place and took two seconds off her own British record. Muir’s time of three minutes 55.22 seconds is the fastest in the world this year. (National)
