Checking over some of the news sites this morning, you’d think Celtic had been “snubbed” or “rebuffed” or chased off in pursuit of a player most of us have never heard of, Reading defender Luke Moore, who’s valued at some £5 million.
And that’s the opening valuation, what would be the first bid.
Reading say he’s not for sale, not even in exchange for every bet365 bonus code in the world, and I don’t doubt that he’s a player they want to hang onto. For a virtual unknown that money is ridiculous. If we got into an auction that would skyrocket an already high price through the roof and into the stratosphere.
And perhaps that’s the intention. At that price, the leak would never have come from Celtic’s end, so it feels a lot to me like we’re being used to drum up interest in the guy and drive that price tag up ever higher. The English media was well briefed and thus were able to put the question to the Reading boss yesterday; it’s almost as if it was scripted.
I’ve checked the media reports about this; they originate in England, with The Daily Mail, and appear founded on the idea that Celtic have sent scouts to a couple of Reading games. Forget that we have an enormous scouting team, forget that we probably send scouts everywhere … the media has conjured up a story and they are sticking to it.
Jap Staam, the Reading boss, never mentioned us by name in his interview the other day. He was never asked about interest from Celtic; he was asked about interest in the player, in general, and how he’s being linked with a number of clubs.
And that’s how you know what this is.
We’re getting to the Silly Season again. We’ll be linked with every defender out there who doesn’t have a five year deal. There doesn’t appear to be more in this story than that Brendan was once at Reading and said yesterday that we still want a centre back.
But the press gets its Celtic snubbed story. The agent gets to see his client’s value go up. Reading boss Jaap Stam gets to look decisive for his fans.
Everyone’s a winner, right?