Massimo Donati will fly in for talks with Celtic this week, but his agent emphasised there were still hurdles to be overcome before he could check in at Parkhead.

The 26-year-old AC Milan winger is part of a £5m double raid on Serie A being planned by Celtic. Gordon Strachan is also interested in signing Gennaro Delvecchio from Sampdoria but faces strong competition from Palermo for the central midfielder.

Several Italian clubs also want to keep Donati in his homeland, although the player is keen on the possibility of continuing his career in Scotland if a deal can be agreed.

"We will meet with Celtic representatives in the middle of this week and this meeting will either take place in Glasgow or in London," said Andrea D'Amico, Donati's agent.

"Massimo is interested in a move to Celtic and I hope that after the meeting we will be very happy.

"Palermo, Sampdoria, Torino and Atalanta are all interested in Massimo. Also we do not know yet if AC Milan are definitely going to sell the player, so there is still a bit of work to be done."

Whether or not Celtic do further strengthen their squad, former captain Billy McNeill believes Rangers will struggle to wrest the league title away from Celtic. McNeill said: "Rangers have got a lot to do. Walter (Smith) has a massive job on his hands next season. He's obviously brought in a few players but he has a long way to go before he can start thinking about taking the championship away from Celtic."

"If you consider the margin (of victory in the league) they had last season, then it doesn't look as though anybody is going to be able to upset that."

Meanwhile, out-of-favour midfielder Thomas Gravesen will stay and fight for his place at Parkhead, according to his agent John Sivebaek.

The 31-year-old has been strongly linked with a move to Sheffield United and Sunderland but Sivebaek said: "I think Thomas will still be at Celtic next season. He wants to prove that he can be a success at Celtic.

"I still think he is a really good footballer and I do not know why he has not been playing."