Celtic’s “Kyogo Price Tag” Makes Any Deal Even More Unthinkable, Which Is Probably The Intent.

There are two ways to look at the stories in the press today suggesting that Celtic have slapped a £20 million price tag on Kyogo due to alleged interest from Manchester City.

Before we dive into the price tag stories, let’s first talk about the transfer rumour itself, which I slammed yesterday as utterly ridiculous.

I still think the story is fanciful rubbish, and I believe many people are adding two and two together and getting five.

Yes, his former manager is now an assistant at Manchester City, and yes, Kyogo recently changed agents. But another of his former Celtic managers is at Spurs right now, and they opted to sign Dominic Solanke instead of “testing Celtic’s resolve” here.

That alone should tell you something.

Now, we’re told that Kyogo would fit brilliantly into Manchester City’s style of play.

That may or may not be true, but we know for a fact he would have slotted perfectly into Ange Postecoglou’s system. So that move would have made more sense than this one, right? So why didn’t it happen? What doubts were raised inside Spurs? Why does Solanke, without any signs that he’s ever going to be what Spurs need, seem a better bet?

As for the agent change, players switch agents all the time without necessarily aiming for a transfer. There’s a Latin saying I’ve used on this site before: post hoc ergo propter hoc – “after it, therefore because of it.”

In short, Kyogo changing agents followed by alleged interest from Manchester City could simply be a coincidence that people are reading far too much into. People are also tying in the potential signing of Adam Idah as further “proof,” and the transfer fee we paid as “confirmation” that in fact he’s the Kyogo replacement, already in the building.

Except that we’ve been chasing Idah all summer, and in fact wanted him from the end of last season, and that Rodgers has spoken openly about wanting them both in the same team. Honestly, some of our fans need a lie down in a dark room. They are very good at jumping at shadows.

What do I think the likelihood of this deal is? Zero, the same as I said yesterday. In no small part because these stories have the substance of wind. They’ve been twisted into whatever dark shape some people want in their minds.

For some in the media who would love to see Celtic weakened, this is an opportunity to push a story and hope for an outcome that achieves that. For many of our supporters, those who perversely enjoy torturing themselves needlessly with worst-case scenarios, this suits them just fine because they can wallow in misery about it.

I’d rather wallow in misery about genuine concerns, about things that are actually happening or not happening, like our complete absence of proper squad strengthening in this transfer window so far. Let me tell you, I don’t enjoy that. It’s not my default position. It doesn’t suit my natural inclination, which is to be a happier person about Celtic and far more optimistic. But I know the difference between a spooky story and something to be genuinely concerned about.

I’ll be concerned about it if it happens, and only then if there’s no sign that Celtic has a clear plan ready to execute in the event that it does. See, I am not wedded to the idea of Kyogo as an immovable part of this squad, for reasons I’ve outlined before, foremost amongst them that nagging worry about his injury issues and the obvious fact that Rodgers’ system is still a little different to what he was playing in under Ange.

If we had an obvious Plan B, and that had been trailed in the media, and the guy had a record of putting the ball in the net, I wouldn’t lose one minute of sleep over this, not that I’m tossing and turning thinking about it anyway.

But right now, the so-called worst-case scenarios are based on a very shaky narrative.

Despite some of the hysterical rubbish written about this yesterday, there hasn’t been a bid of any kind, far less talks between the clubs. Manchester City hasn’t even decided that Kyogo is their target, much less made a move for him.

In the worst-case scenario, as it stands now, he’s on a shortlist of two players. We don’t know who the other player is, but I’m willing to bet that he plays in a top-five league and fits the Manchester City signing profile a hell of a lot better than Kyogo does. I’m also willing to bet that he isn’t carrying a shoulder injury that could put him out for four months.

And I’ll bet further that when Manchester City makes their decision on who they’re going to pursue, one of the first things they’ll do if Kyogo is genuinely under consideration is ask Celtic how much he’ll cost. And that, my friends, is when this all becomes redundant.

I read one extremely arrogant assertion on a Manchester City fan site yesterday, claiming that if they go for Kyogo, it should be a relatively easy deal to get done.

Oh yeah? Based on what? Based on us playing in Scotland? Based on us being easy to intimidate, easy to bully, run by mugs? Based on their club having an unlimited sum of money? This late in the window? How stupid do you have to be to believe any of that?

Well, the answer is in the papers today; the talking starts at £20 million.

Still think it’s a relatively easy deal to get done?

Once again, some of our fans are interpreting this the way they want to, which is that our board is willing to sell Kyogo and has actually named its price.

But that’s funny money. If this had happened at the start of the transfer window and some club had made an offer of £20 million, nobody would have blocked the exit door. Not the manager, not the other players. Very few fans would have considered that anything other than a good piece of business for a 29-year-old, even with his record.

But because we’re late in the day now, there are no easy answers if Kyogo is sold. So, it’s going to take an obscene amount of money and an unthinkable bid to bring us to the table. And because it’s going to take an unthinkable bid, the chances of this happening are slim, to say the least.

Is Manchester City going to pay £20 million for a player in the SPFL? Celtic isn’t expressing a willingness to sell by slapping a £20 million fee on him. That’s as good a “hands off” message as you’re going to get.

Celtic cannot, if they want to keep the player happy, turn around and say he’s not for sale at any price. What they can do is what they did with Matt O’Riley: set a transfer fee so high that it scares off almost every interested party. And that, in my view, would include Manchester City, if they were ever inclined in the first place.

That’s where we are right now as far as this story goes.

It still doesn’t strike me as something to take seriously, but inside the club, where they’ll have a clearer idea of whether it’s serious or not, they’d better be laying down some serious plans if this is more than just rumours, wisps and vapours.

And that’s another reason why the City fan site that wrote that rubbish about an easy deal got it so wrong yesterday… because we’d need to have a replacement already lined up and the deal virtually done before we could even consider this.