The 32-year-old French midfielder has starred in Azerbaijan
Celtic has been connected to a surprise summer transfer for Abdellah Zoubir, a former Hibs loanee.
The 32-year-old French winger has drawn attention with his 11 goals this season while playing for Qarabag. In the 4-2 victory over Braga in the Europa League last week, Zoubir showed off his skills by scoring twice and dishing up an assist.
But as his contract is about to expire in June, the former Lens star’s future is in doubt. The last five and a half years of Zoubir’s career have been spent with Qarabag, and the Azerbaijani team is eager to sign him to a new deal.
But according to L’Equipe, Zoubir has attracted interest from Celtic
and German side Augsburg, as well as an unnamed French club. Zoubir is free to open pre-contract discussions with interested parties that could see him move on in the summer on a free transfer.
A switch to Parkhead, though, would raise eyebrows and contradict Celtic’s transfer model of signing younger players with sell-on potential. Celts also have an abundance of wide options, although Zoubir could be viewed as a possible replacement for Liel Abada, who looks set to quit the club in the coming months.
Zoubir spent a year on loan at Hibs from French outfit Istres in 2013-14 but managed just three goal contributions in 16 appearances for the Easter Road club – who suffered relegation at the end of a car-crash season. After starting his career at Ligue 2 side Grenoble Foot 38, Zouiber went on to play for Romanian club Petrolul Ploiesti before earning a move to Lens.
He spent two years at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis before making the switch to Qarabag, where he has 57 goals and 64 assists in almost 250 appearances.
