Alfie Doughty could be ready to sign a pre-contract deal with Celtic as the Scottish Champions aim to get a deal done in January for the left sided Charlton star.

Neil Lennon made an attempt to sign the defender in the last transfer window and made a knockdown offer to secure the player from Charlton, the English club rejected and now the Celtic manager aims to go down the pre-contract route.

His current manager Lee Bowyer has confirmed that he could be out for a few months.

“It doesn’t look good at all. I’m not going to go into too much detail but from what I understand, he’s going to be out for a while.

“I don’t know how long but it’s not good. Obviously, he was running flat out in the game on the weekend and someone nudged him in the back.

With this unfortunate injury set to keep Alfie Doughty out well past the January mark, Celtic could be able to persuade the player to sign in the summer.

Charlton could not be willing to offer a contract while he’s out injured and Celtic could have a real chance at signing Doughty, he would be a fantastic bargain if we could manage to obtain him for free.