Preston North End boss Alex Neil admitted that he expected central defender Ben Davies to join Celtic before English Premier League giants Liverpool swooped in to complete the deal.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Neil made the admission that Davies looked to be heading for the Scottish Premiership but was also expected to stay at Preston until the end of the season unless a big bid was to come in from the Hoops. However, Liverpool came in at just the right time to take Davies away from his move to Scotland.
“To my knowledge, the deal with Celtic was one that looked as if that was where he was going to end up.
However, we wouldn’t have, in this window, allowed him to go to Celtic unless there was a substantial fee attached to it. Which I don’t think we would have got from them.
“From all the discussions I had with Ben Davies I fully anticipated him staying until the end of the season.”
The Davies debacle just sums up Celtic’s season in a way.
The deal looked to be all but over the line, for the 25-year old to join the club, at the very least beginning of next season to help bolster the Hoops defence.
When a club like Liverpool comes in, there is no doubt where a player is going to head no matter how big we think Celtic are. It just adds further frustration to what felt like a poor window for the club.
Honestly. Neil should just shut up. Firstly he stated…he’s going nowhere, then it was he’s our plater and staying with us, then he’s off to Liverpool, after we offered terms. Good luck to him, but why is Neil sticking his 2d worth into the equation. Simple policy just tell Neil to sod off!