Irish Bhoys in transfer roundabout

21 year old Cillian Sheridan may be heading east

Spartak Moscow are expected to wrap up the, £9.5 million, signing of Aidan McGeady in the coming day's after protracted negotiations.

The Irish winger was reportedly waiting to see whether reported interest from Aston Villa would materialise but has now grown frustrated. The midlands club had lined up a move for McGeady as a replacement for James Milner, but Manchester City have yet to meet the £30M asking price for the England midfielder and so McGeady is left with only the Russian offer on the table.

The former Scottish player of the year now appears to have given up on a move south of the border after Giovanni Trapattoni confirmed he has been left out of the Republic of Ireland squad to allow him sort out his future.

"We let him go and make what he must do," said Trapattoni, adding: "Maybe he will go to Russia but at the moment he is not with us."

Current Celtic boss Neil Lennon yesterday confirmed that McGeady was on his way out saying:

"He was in yesterday and more or less said his goodbyes really, so we'll see how that develops over the next one or two days but I would probably think it will be Moscow."

Meanwhile, another Irish international could be leaving the Hoops and crossing the shadow of the old iron curtain. Cillian Sheridan (pictured), who has won two senior caps this summer, has received an offer from CSKA Sofia. Lennon again confirmed the interest: "There's been an offer from a Bulgarian club and we've given him permission to go over and see what he thinks."

Sheridan has found himself on the periphery of the Celtic first team since the departure of Gordon Strachan, who threw him in at the deep end in a Champions League encounter with Manchester United. Since then, the Cavan man has been shipped out from the struggling Celtic side. Loaned by Tony Mowbray to Plymouth Argyle and St Johnstone before making his international debut in May's 2-1 win over Paraguay in the RDS, now Lennon is ready to let the striker go for good.

Sofia are set to face Welsh side TNS (who knocked out Bohemians) in the Europa League qualifying play off. The Bulgarians could well last longer in the competition than Sheridan's current club, who face FC Utrecht in the same stage of the competition later this month.

Yet another link in the Celtic and Aston Villa transfer chain is Liam Lawrence. The Stoke City winger is expected to replace his international teammate (McGeady) once his move out of Scotland is complete.

"I think you've hit the nail on the head there" Lawrence said when asked if the James Milner saga had indirectly impacted his transfer.