According to the BBC, Stuart Armstrong is due to talk to Southampton about a transfer this summer, with a deal between the clubs already agreed. Last season they were 17th in the EPL, and just avoiding a relegation battle.
His level of ambition is now established, and let no-one dispute that this is for reasons other than money.
I feel sad about this, although as I wrote earlier in the month it had a degree of certainty, even inevitability, about it.
There was no secret about his intentions nor that Celtic had tired, long since, of playing games here. We made him a contract offer we deemed to be fair enough a while back and we never, not for one moment, wavered on it.
When the club told him it would not be improved that was it.
People inside Celtic Park have been rather relaxed about this one, and for quite a while. Plans are well in motion, but perhaps not the ones you might think. Or that I might have written about already. More on that some other time.
Armstrong arrived here as a kid from Dundee Utd with all the talent in the world. He had already been capped by Scotland at virtually every level, and had captained some of their youth teams. He had everything and should have become a captain at this club and thus a legend.
As is stands he leaves without having played 100 games.
Overall, I think he still has the potential to be a very, very fine footballer but it will not be at Celtic Park. When he looks back on his career in the game it will be at a time when he won lots of trophies and got to play a role in making history.
He should treasure those. I suspect it’s the last time he’ll have such glittering accomplishments to brag on.
I don’t want to be harsh to this guy, he’s making what he thinks is the right decision for himself and for his family and I can’t hold that against him or anyone else … but this is a waste for him and for the player we might have had at Celtic.