Celtic and Rangers could be invited to prestigious summer tournament organised by Lyon

CELTIC and Rangers could be handed an invite to a prestigious pre-season tournament in Lyon after manager Rudi Garcia revealed they wanted to play Scottish clubs.

The new Premiership season has been pencilled in for an August 1 start, but traditional pre-season tours face many obstacles because of coronavirus restrictions and quarantine rules.

But outspoken Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas, who was the major critic of the decision to end the season in France, wants to host a prestigious eight-team tournament at their Groupama Stadium in July.

And he wants clubs from countries who ended their season prematurely, including Scotland, Netherlands and Belgium, to take part in the friendly matches.

PSG and St Etienne have already reportedly agreed to take part and Lyon could invite the Old Firm, or at least one of them, to take part too.

Lyon boss Garcia said: "The plan is for eight teams to play at the Groupama Stadium in two groups of four.

"It will include mainly French clubs, but also hopefully teams from countries who had their leagues stopped early too, like Scotland, Belgium and the Netherlands.

"We also want to invite supporters to this tournament too."

And Aulas explained: "This is an idea that would give all the teams involved serious preparation for the new season by having a competitive tournament.

"And there would also be a second tournament for women's teams of the invited clubs as well."

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Celtic boss Neil Lennon revealed at the weekend they were still considering the possibility of going abroad before the new season and Rangers managing director Stewart Robertson said this week the club planned to announce their pre-season friendlies soon.

A game against Lyon would mean a reunion with former Celtic star Moussa Dembele, if he is still at the club following intense speculation linking him with moves to Manchester United and Chelsea.

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