Shane Duffy addresses permanent Celtic stay question; had talks with Hoops in Rodgers-era

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New Celtic loan signing Shane Duffy isn’t giving much thought to staying at the club beyond this season and reckons the decision is ultimately out of his hands, speaking in a press conference earlier today.

Duffy was grilled by the assembled press at Celtic Park during his official unveiling and the questions quickly turned to whether he is hoping to make his switch to Glasgow permanent.

As quoted by the official Celtic YouTube channel, the Brighton defender said: “Career-wise, it’ll all be decided next season obviously. This season the focus is on here and it’s down to me to perform week in, week out and win trophies at this club.

“I’m not sure yet what the actual plan is, obviously I’m still contracted to Brighton and it’s basically down to them at the end of the day, if they get the right deal for me.

“Listen I’m just here this season to go and enjoy myself and hopefully have a successful time here.”

The defender was then asked by another journalist whether or not he’s had the opportunity to join Celtic before.

Duffy revealed that during the Brendan Rodgers era it was a possibility, with talks taking place, however they clearly didn’t pan out for reasons unknown.

The big defender said: “There were talks a couple of years ago under Brendan but nothing really came from it and then I went to Brighton, so nothing came from it.”

The Ireland captain left Blackburn Rovers in August 2016, just after Rodgers’ arrival at Celtic, for a reported fee of £4m (The Mirror).

It’s clearly always been his dream to pull on the Celtic jersey so perhaps the recruitment team at the Bhoys just felt he wasn’t the right fit.

He looks to be now of course and hopefully he’ll make his debut sooner rather than later, shoring up a Celtic defence that has looked a bit shaky in the early stages of the season.

If he performs well there’ll be a clamouring from fans for the club to push the boat out and sign him permanently.

In other news, Celtic are prepared to wait and sign Alfie Doughty on a pre-contract if a £400,000 bid is rejected.