Celtic eye Norway midfielder Henriksen as QPR close in on £8m Ki

Target: Celtic's Ki Sung Yueng

Celtic ran the rule over Norwegian international midfielder Markus Henriksen on Thursday night - amidst speculation of an £8million bid for Ki Sung Yueng from Queens Park Rangers.

Parkhead manager Neil Lennon had 19-year-old Henriksen watched in Belfast as Rosenborg began their Champions League qualifying campaign against Crusaders.

Rated in the £2m bracket, Lennon confessed to an interest in Henriksen in May. And last night's scouting mission came as reports in Seoul claimed ambitious QPR were preparing to bid £8m for South Korean international Ki.

The Premiership club are sponsored by Air Asia and have trained their sights on the South Korean as part of their marketing strategy.

Sportsmail understands manager Mark Hughes has received favourable reports on the 23-year-old.

Russian club Rubin Kazan have already had a bid of £6m for Ki turned down by Celtic, who want £9m for the playmaker.

Bundesliga clubs Bayer Leverkusen and Werder Bremen have also been credited with an interest.

Expressing a preference to play in Spain, however, Ki said recently: 'All footballers want to play at the highest level and my dream is to play in La Liga.'



