Hibernian move into pole position to land Celtic striker Anthony Stokes
Friday 15 January 2016 17:52, UK
Hibernian head coach Alan Stubbs has confirmed an approach has been made to Celtic to sign Anthony Stokes on loan for the remainder of the season.
Dundee United and Inverness Caledonian Thistle have also agreed terms with Celtic for the out-of-favour striker, but respective managers - Mixu Paatelainen and John Hughes - have said they do not expect to sign the player.
Celtic had indicated they would prefer Stokes to join a top-flight club but Stubbs is confident he can lure him back for a second spell in Leith.
Speaking to the Hibs website, Stubbs said: "We've made contact with Celtic regarding Anthony Stokes. We've agreed in principal with Celtic a deal to hopefully speak to Anthony, we just need to tie one or two things up now with him and his advisor.
"Following that we will hopefully be in a position where we can announce something, but we're not at that stage yet.
"We understand Celtic's wishes, but I think the fact that we have got some very competitive games in this division and our aspirations are very high and if we can get Anthony across the line then he certainly brings a lot of quality. We are a top-flight club playing in the Championship."
Stokes, who has been capped nine times for the Republic of Ireland, and has scored 58 goals in 135 appearances for Celtic since joining from Hibs in the summer of 2010.
He enjoyed a productive spell in the capital six years ago, scoring 24 goals in 47 games.
