Celtic have verbally agreed to sign Canadian international Alistair Johnston, according to reports.

The full-back's stock has risen this week after an impressive display for his country against Belgium on Wednesday at the World Cup in Qatar.

Celtic were in advanced talks with Johnstone before the tournament, but they have now verbally agreed to sign him, according to Fabrizio Romano.

Full-back Johnston is currently plying his trade in the MLS with Montreal and Celtic could look to him as a potential replacement for Josip Juranovic, who looks set to leave the club in the coming window.

It is understood Montreal are looking for profit on the £800,000 they paid for Johnston to sign him from Nashville last December.

Speaking about a potential move to Europe, he said: “There is only so much I can say right now but if an opportunity arises, sure.

“I am really happy at Montreal and we have a great thing going, but at the same time I want to test myself, and I want to see how high I can go.

“That’s something that for all athletes deep down is in our DNA.

“You want to be competitive and push yourself to play against the best and see how high you can go.

“We never want to look back at our career and have the, ‘What if?’ question. I’ve nightmares thinking about that.

“I want to push the boundaries of what is physically capable for me.

“If that means going overseas, and trying to see what kind of level I can play at, then so be it. We will see how the World Cup goes and we will see what happens after that.”

Meanwhile, Shunsuke Nakamura has landed his first job as a coach after recently retiring as a player.

The 44-year-old called time on his playing days last month as he called time on a wonderful career, most notably with Celtic.

He retired at Yokohama and he will now take over as the club's first-team coach.

READ MORE: