Celtic summer target Romain Perraud has cleared the air over his summer approach.
The French left-back has confirmed to Goal that the Hoops made a bid to his former team Nice. Unfortunately for all parties, the move was rebuffed by Nice and nothing more was said.
In return, the Hoops ended up signing two others in Boli Bolingoli and Greg Taylor.
Romain Perraud on Celtic summer saga
The 22-year-old looked as if he was heading to the Scottish champions as Neil Lennon’s first summer signing.
Celtic were in dire need of a left-back with Emilio Izaguirre departing, before Kieran Tierney also moved. Perraud appeared to be the ideal candidate. He is a player that was heavily linked but everything when quiet pretty quickly and Perraud admits this.
He told Goal France: “Celtic and Dijon made concrete offers to me.
“With Celtic, discussions started at the start of the transfer window but Nice didn’t want to hear anything, so nothing changed.
“Dijon and Brest remained so I chose Brest because I was enticed by the project that had been relayed to me.”
Perraud has played 10 games so far for Brest in Ligue 1 this season, sitting in 12th.
Did Celtic’s thoughts change over time over Frenchman?
Despite Nice’s refusal, it would be expected that the Hoops would have came back in for Perraud. However, could it be the case that the management team got word on Tierney in advance?
Losing both left-backs would require bringing in both a first choice and stand-in of considerable quality.
Everyone knew of Taylor’s qualities from Scotland and Boli Bolingoli was playing in European competition. Perraud is a question mark and perhaps isn’t at the levels of the current Celtic two.
Nevertheless, it’s working out for all parties. But, with Jonny Hayes filling the spot right now, who knows what could have been.
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