FRANK MCAVENNIE has urged Celtic to "pay the money" and sign Cameron Carter-Vickers on a permanent deal.

The US international is currently on loan at Celtic Park for the season but Ange Postecoglou holds the option to make it a permanent transfer.

Carter-Vickers, 23, has been a constant for Celtic this season and has won over Parkhead hero McAvennie, who is a fan of the stopper.

The pundit praised Carter-Vickers' performance in the Premier Sports Cup final triumph over Hibs as he stated Carl Starfelt was "a bit sloppy".

And McAvennie credits Carter-Vickers and Joe Hart for the significant improvement in the Celtic defence.

He told Football Insider: "Carter-Vickers on the other hand was brilliant. I’m starting to really like him. He’s been really solid in recent weeks.

“For me, he’s been the one who has played a big role in improving that defence. Joe Hart also has to take massive credit for that but Carter-Vickers has been playing every game for a reason.

Reports had claimed Tottenham were demanding up to £10million to allow Carter-Vickers to make the permanent switch to Celtic.

But insider John Wenham told the transfer site that any fee would be closer to £3m at the start of December.

For McAvennie a fee of that size would be a no-brainer as he urged the club to get it over the line in January.

He added: “If it’s only going to cost £3million I would get that done in January, pay the money. Then he’s ours and we don’t need to worry about it.”