Well today clarified some stuff on the transfer front. Sort of.
During his presser for tomorrow’s game, Lennon was asked a couple of questions about the transfer stories which have proliferated in the last couple of days and he gave some updates. They are pretty interesting, and illuminating in one case.
For openers, he was asked about Leigh Griffiths. There have been rumours that we would be willing to like Leigh go out on loan, but as James said the other did, he might be fourth choice but Lennon knows his value to the club.
If, as James suggested, Griffiths is going to get one last opportunity to prove himself then there those inside Celtic Park still feel he’s worth hanging onto. Lennon has as good as said so. It always seemed unlikely he’d be loaned out.
Lennon has confirmed that we’re talking to Shane Duffy. He refers to them as “tentative inquiries”, but that’s a bit of an understatement.
This has gone much further than a tentative inquiry. The club and the player have had detailed talks. Negotiations with Brighton are ongoing. Lennon is playing it down because there’s no certainty of closing the deal.
But he’s been more open about it than he has before, which suggests we’re a step further along the road than the official reports suggest.
It’s not done, yet … but my confidence grows.
The last update may be the strangest, but also the most revealing. Neil Lennon has denied that Rogic is on his way to Qatar, saying only that the club has made its interest known but that it goes no further than that. He’s also said he likes Rogic and wants him to stay.
But there is ambivalence there too. He hasn’t said that Rogic definitely will stay … so Lennon is unsure of that. And to me that means one thing only, that Rogic has expressed a desire to go. He hasn’t played much football at Celtic of late.
I could understand his wanting the move.
Lennon is basically saying “wait and see” on that one. If the inquiry turns into a firm offer than I think Tom will be off. The idea that he might be used as a makeweight in the deal for Duffy might just have been knocked on the head, or that might yet come about.
Clarity in some ways, but not in others.
What we can take to the bank is that the interest in Tom is real, the interest in Duffy is too and that Leigh can have all the interested parties sniffing around as there are for Edouard, but he’s going to remain at Parkhead for the time being.
In the meantime, behind the scenes, the business goes on.
The Rumour Guy is a Celtic fan and blogger from Glasgow, who lives on Kit Kats when the editor isn’t fining him.
The CelticBlog faces many challenges going forward. If you like what we do, please subscribe and never miss another article. If you’re on Facebook, join us on our Facebook Group or share us on yours, if you’re on Twitter remember and re-tweet all our work.