Fans reaction as Celtic ‘progress’ on transfer deals as star move collapses after Martin O’Neill ‘thought’ contract was agreed….
Martin O’Neill insists there has been progress made on the Celtic transfer front – after two deals for stars of last term ended.
The Hoops have been under fire again for slow recruitment with the squad in need of strengthening and just forward Camilo Duran brought in so far. Premiership title defence business begins in just over a fortnight but striker Kelechi Iheanacho has joined Bursaspor in Turkey after terms could not be agreed to re-sign him after an additional 12 months in his Celtic contract was not activated.
Left-back Marcelo Saracchi has also claimed, despite wanting a move back to the club following a loan from Boca Juniors, that it will not be possible for him to join Celtic again. Manager O’Neill stated that every transfer story has two sides and that movement on other deals behind the scenes is ongoing.
Celtic transfer update on new signings?
“There has been progress but there’s no time frame. There’s no point saying Monday if they come in on Wednesday instead. I don’t want to say something is absolute until it’s absolutely done but progress is definitely being made. There are always two sides to every transfer.
“I thought we had a deal with him (Iheanacho) but that wasn’t the case so he’s gone to pastures new. The option ran out, that’s fine. But the option would be to take someone on similar terms to before so that’s where the difference was. Again there are two sides to every story. He (Sarrachi) did really well at the club but there were circumstances which seemingly meant it was never going to happen.”
Swathes of empty seats were visible at Celtic Park as the club drew 1-1 with Middlesbrough at home in their latest pre-season friendly on Saturday and O’Neill reckons the cost of living makes it difficult for punters to attend. AC Milan come to Glasgow next weekend and the manager said: “In terms of people staying away, I’m delighted people came. Firstly it’s summer time. Secondly it’s pretty expensive to come to games now.
Why were there large amounts of empty seats for Celtic vs Middlesbrough?
“We’ve got a game against AC Milan next week so if some people are coming to both games, that’s a lot of money and you have to buy a season ticket on top of that. Life is changing. It’s not 25 years ago when you’d fill a stadium for a pre-season friendly. The type of money now makes it difficult.
“This is a pre-season game. Middlesbrough brought a lot of fans. When they were asked to come last season, the fans turned up. In the post-split games I thought they were fantastic. I thought they carried us over the line. That’s the message I’d give to them.”
