Celtic don’t have their much-needed striker yet, but that doesn’t mean that nearly every name under the sun hasn’t been linked to the club during the January transfer window.
Perhaps one of the linked players to come out of the blue was Leeds United striker, Joel Piroe.
It was suggested that Celtic ‘held talks’ to try and sign Piroe, who has become a bench player under Daniel Farke this season after scoring 19 goals to help Leeds earn promotion to the Premier League last term.
But Leeds are owned by 49ers Enterprises, and they also have a majority stake in Rangers, so the answer from inside the Elland Road boardroom to that Piroe approach was pretty clear.
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Leeds United’s answer to Celtic after Joel Piroe enquiry
Anthony Joseph is the man to follow if you want to know all things Celtic, and he shared that the champions of Scotland made a ‘loan approach’ last month.
But Joseph added on Sky Sports that the Hoops trying to sign Piroe was a ‘non-starter’, and how those inside Leeds were ‘surprised’ by that knock on the door.
‘UPDATE: Leeds United were surprised by Celtic’s approach for Joel Piroe due to their connection to Rangers,’ wrote Joseph.
‘@SkySportsNews revealed last week that #CelticFC explored a loan deal. But due to the 49ers’ ownership of #LUFC & #RFC – it was a non-starter for them.’
Piroe is valued at £13 million
Even if there wasn’t a Rangers connection at Leeds, you have to question if Celtic had a chance to sign Piroe because of the transfer fee on his head.
It seems as though the Dutch star, if he leaves, will go on a permanent basis, and he is being valued at ‘£13 million’, with Championship side Leicester City also keen on his services, according to Sports Boom.
Given that Martin O’Neill is in interim charge, there is no way Celtic would have ever put a record transfer fee on the table for the striker.
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