CELTIC have been warned signing target Jordi Gomez will not come cheap - even though his club, Espanyol, face relegation from La Liga.

The 23-year-old attacking midfielder is currently on loan at Swansea, where his form has brought him 13 goals and caught the eye of Parkhead boss Gordon Strachan.

Having failed to lure, among others, Gelson Fernandes from Manchester City in the January window, Strachan has turned his attention to Gomez.

The club's scouts have been told to find targets who tick the boxes of being affordable, available and with potential.

Unearthing rough diamonds - such as Marc Crosas - has been identified as the best route for the club at this time, and Gomez falls into this category.

He has quickly become one of the names on the Celtic signing list. But the Spanish youngster is also on the radar of several other clubs who are ready to move quickly if Espanyol decide to offload players to prepare for life out of Spain's top division.

Swansea hope they will get first run at signing Gomez.

The Championship outfit's manager Roberto Martinez - who played for Motherwell - recognises the attraction to any youngster of a club who can offer regular Champions League football.

Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins has vowed to do all in his power to head off any advances from Celtic.

But because Gomez is only at the Welsh club on loan, he knows he could be left powerless to prevent the Spl champions doing a deal with Espanyol.

Jenkins said: "Roberto has talked at length with Espanyol from day one. But they have had changes of manager and are fighting against relegation.

"They may lose a lot of players if they are relegated and could look to bring young players like Jordi back.

"I don't know what Jordi might be worth, or if other clubs are interested in him. He is not our player so I wouldn't expect to know.

"What I do know is that despite the financial climate, there are still clubs who are prepared to throw ridiculous sums of money around.

"But we'd like to have Jordi back. He has had a fair season with us and if there was a chance of him leaving Espanyol, we would pursue every angle to bring him to Swansea City.

"The biggest danger, in my opinion, is that he will stay with Espanyol."

Gomez failed to make the breakthrough at the Barcelona club, but he has blossomed since being allowed to go out on loan to Swansea at the start of this season.

Celtic will be keen to avoid any bidding war for the player, so will decide quickly if they want to make an offer to Espanyol.