Martin O’Neill Makes Telling Marcelo Saracchi Transfer Admission

Martin O’Neill has responded to Marcelo Saracchi’s failed Celtic return after the defender’s agent claimed the club never submitted a formal offer.

Saracchi confirmed he would not be returning to Glasgow after spending last season on loan at Celtic, where he played his part in the club’s domestic double.

His agent, Marcelo Tejera, subsequently told CeltsAreHere that Celtic’s interest never developed into a concrete proposal.

Tejera said no formal offer was made and insisted the financial terms being requested were low. He also claimed the deal would have represented a bargain for Celtic before confirming that talks had ended and Saracchi’s camp had moved on to other options.

O’Neill was asked about the situation after Celtic’s 1-1 pre-season draw with Middlesbrough.

“Again, two sides to every story,” the Celtic manager said.

The response suggests there were other factors behind the breakdown which have not been made public, although O’Neill did not go into detail or directly challenge Tejera’s claim that no formal offer was submitted.

Saracchi had impressed O’Neill during the closing stages of last season, most notably when his involvement helped create the decisive goal against Hearts.

The manager had even joked at the time about handing the Uruguayan an extraordinary long-term contract.

“In disappointment, I thought that I jokingly said after he made the goal against Hearts that I would give him a 26-year deal I think at the time,” O’Neill said.

“I think that might have been a slight exaggeration, but it’s happened, players have gone.”

Despite his praise for the player, O’Neill indicated that a permanent agreement was always unlikely because of the wider circumstances surrounding the deal.

“What I would say about Saracchi, I think he’s done really well at the football club and I think there were just circumstances in which it seemingly was never going to happen.”

That leaves two different accounts of the failed transfer.

Saracchi’s side maintains that the player wanted to return, the demands were reasonable and Celtic did not make an offer. O’Neill accepts that the defender performed well but believes there were circumstances which prevented a deal from being completed.

The Celtic boss did not identify those circumstances, meaning the precise reason for the collapse remains unclear.

What is established is that Saracchi will not be part of O’Neill’s squad for the new season. Celtic must now look elsewhere for another left-sided option while the defender and his representatives pursue a move to another European club.