So the Lennon Miller story has finally entered the endgame. Tabloid journalist Roger Hannah, speaking on Clyde the other night, reckons he’d be a fantastic signing for Celtic—and that we could probably get him for around £4.5 million.
I don’t think he’s far off in his valuation, but I’d add maybe a million more for the whole “Celtic Tax” reason. Which, simply put, is this: we have money, Motherwell know we have money, and Motherwell don’t want their fans to see their favourite player in a Celtic shirt unless they’re very well compensated for it.
I don’t know if this deal will happen.
I do know Celtic are looking at midfielders. We’re looking at various options. Miller is obviously high on the list, clearly of great interest to the club—but there are other targets out there. And there’s a fee beyond which we simply will not, and should not, go. Motherwell will know this. They’ll have to play this game very carefully.
Miller’s back in pre-season training. I don’t think many people at Motherwell expected that. I think they thought there would be interest almost as soon as the season ended, and that teams would already be forming an orderly queue with offers in hand.
That hasn’t happened. And if Motherwell were gambling that they could hold out for a major fee sparked by an auction, that gamble looks close to failure. I always thought it was reckless. He’s out of contract at the end of the season, and their chances of getting a big fee were always slim. An offer of £4.5 million might very well be as good as it gets.
He’s worth that. He’s worth the extra £1 million as well—as long as it’s paid not all up front, but depending on appearances, international caps, Champions League matches and all the rest. We can throw in a sell-on clause, just for good measure, and that gives Motherwell even more down the line if he is a success and moves on.
So there’s a decision for the club to make now. This is the final transfer window in which this will be a live issue. He won’t be at Motherwell when the season starts, I don’t think. And if he is still at Motherwell then, I don’t believe we’ll get him on a pre-contract. Clubs will come in in January with minimal offers that Motherwell will have no choice but to accept. So this really is it. It’s now or never.
The question is how committed Celtic are. How much do we want him? Where does he currently sit on our list of targets?
I suspect he’s pretty high on it—but maybe not at the top. Perhaps Celtic are feeling out other players first. Perhaps we’re pursuing our primary targets and seeing how those situations develop. But this has gone on for so long, and the rumours in January were so widespread—that we had made a bid, that we tried to get Motherwell to sell—that I’d be amazed if we don’t make an offer soon.
The midfielders we seem to be linked with are all in the same sort of age group. Some hacks think we’ll break our transfer record again this summer—and that it’ll be on a midfielder. So I do wonder if they know something. If we’re already negotiating something behind the scenes that will answer this question once and for all.
Rodgers has said enough over the last couple of years to convince me that he does want a core group of Scottish players in the squad. And the signing of Luke McCowan shows he’s not afraid to buy the best from this league.
So we’re approaching the moment of truth. We’re a month away from the season starting, and clubs will want their squads shaped up in time. I think we’re probably in the four-week countdown to deciding this one way or the other.
If we move now, we’ll be in pole position.
We’re the only club interested enough to have gotten this far. And while I think that might be the moment other clubs make a move, we’d be at the head of the line and we’d know exactly what it would take to get the deal done.
So Brendan and the scouting team have a big decision to make. And then that decision gets passed first to Motherwell—and then to the player.
We’re not far off a final verdict. We’re not far from finding out how this story ends.
And to be honest, it’s about time.
I do agree James. We should go out and buy this lad as he could be a mainstay for years, once he gets established. We should be encouraging the purchase of good, homegrown talent and I think Miller would justify the outlay !
Yep it’s always good to have some Scottish guys in the team especially if they’re good enough and support Celtic as well…
Not sure if this lad does or doesn’t though !
James , as sure as night follows day , if Celtic blink first well will push out the demand for more money of that i have no doubt , we do need a midfielder with a bit of iron in his locker and i believe Rodgers is still looking to replace scott brown in that position we could still add miller to the side but i’d wait until the start of august to go for him and put motherwell under pressure , the player and his agents and advisors also , i’d have no problem paying them a fair price for the player but with little if any interest in him at the moment from outside scotland besides the usual lille sh!t that the huns use we hold all the cards , give them the 4.5 fair to all
Not good enough… anonymous in too many games
A beast is the priority and badly needed in midfield for derbies and European games
Sorry but….
Its not him !
I wasn’t sure what all the fuss was about Miller, however I’ve changed my mind having watched him for Scotland, albeit against lowly opposition. It was the way he took command of a midfield which is Scotland’s best area.
Often if you show you are over eager to sign someone it can raise the fee, ie Idah & Engels were both overpriced.
Lennon I’d sign now, personally I’d start him Bernardo or McCowan before Engels.
Hatate could still be out at start of season, I like him a lot but he finds it hard to regain fitness after a spell out, McGregor is unfortunately advancing in age, so signing Miller at such a young age is recommended.