Celtic under-18 coach Darren O’Dea has admitted that he was a bit surprised that the Hoops managed to sign Shane Duffy in the recent transfer window, the Irish Examiner reports.
O’Dea thought it would be difficult for the Hoops to sign a player who has been at a Premier League side – Brighton, for years due to finances. However, Neil Lennon’s side managed to pull off such a deal. Duffy joined on loan for the rest of the season.
“The elephant in the room”
“For a player in their prime – coming from the Premier League, I was probably a little surprised. The elephant in the room is, of course, finance, and that’s why some of the top Irish players, who play in the Premier League but would love to play for Celtic, say ‘the timing’s not right’. I think everything needs to fall in place and things just aligned for Duffy” O’Dea said, as quoted by the Irish Examiner.
It does help that Duffy is a Celtic fan, of course. That no doubt was one of the main reasons that Duffy agreed to join Celtic.
However, as O’Dea says, it is not that often that a player moves from the Premier League to Scotland. Finances are usually the issue. Indeed, it should not be forgotten that Duffy has only joined on loan.
Hoops money men must be given credit
Celtic did manage to get a deal done though. Credit for that has to be given to the Hoops money men and to Duffy himself. He might well have pushed to make sure he became a Celtic player.
The move has paid off so far, as Duffy has had a good start to his Celtic career. He faces some big tests in the weeks to come. However, both he and Celtic will be confident that he will be able to handle pressure games like the Glasgow derby and the Europa League fixtures. Those are the games Duffy has been signed to do a job in.
Sometimes it is worth going that extra mile financially to get a player who can do a job for the team. That is what Celtic did with Duffy. Hopefully by the end of the season the Hoops will have reaped the rewards.
In other news, Charly Musonda has given an update on his career, as he may have to retire.
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