Celtic were just hours away from completing a deal for Ben Davies over the weekend.
Peter Ridsdale, the advisor to the owner of Preston North End, has been speaking to talkSPORT today about the Davies move to Liverpool and the failed switch to Celtic.
Davies had been lined up for a pre-contract by Celtic and talks were so advanced that Preston had to check an agreement hadn’t been signed when Liverpool enquired.
Ridsdale told radio station talkSPORT (11:10): “Because it was a pre-contract with Celtic, we weren’t really involved. They had, out of courtesy, told us at the start of last week that they were trying to get the deal done.
“But looking at all the media last Friday and Saturday, it was suggesting the deal had been signed. So when Liverpool enquired yesterday I had to check the status first.
“We had a window of opportunity of a couple of hours to try and get the deal done with Liverpool before it looked as if he was going to finally sign for Celtic.
“It’s private and confidential and it’s not for me to say what the deal is but let’s just say we are very happy with the deal, given that the alternative was he was going to go to Celtic for nothing.”
Celtic now scrambling for alternative
Celtic will now be spending deadline day looking for an alternative defensive option.
Christopher Jullien will be injured for months, while Shane Duffy’s form gets worse and worse.
Moving ahead this season without another centre-back option is unthinkable. Celtic have had the entire month to get a deal over the line, yet are made to look daft again, at this stage.
Hopefully, the negotiating team can pull something out of the back at the last minute here.
In other news, the profit Celtic could make from any Olivier Ntcham deal.
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