Celtic News

Bellamy wanted home, not Celtic – Lawwell

|
Image for Bellamy wanted home, not Celtic – Lawwell

Speculation about where Manchester City’s Craig Bellamy will move may be about to end following Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell conceding defeat after the player indicated he wanted to move to Cardiff City.

Or are Lawwell’s comments merely another stage in the increasingly drawn out transfer saga? It’s impossible to tell, but if the suggestion Man City are only prepared to pay half of Bellamy’s reported £90,000-a-week wages while he is away on loan are true, where are Cardiff going to get the cash for the rest from?

Lots of questions – almost as many questions as clubs Bellamy is being linked to – but it would appear City do not want to sanction a permanent sale or loan Bellamy to a club they consider to be a rival. Whether such clubs are their real rivals (mid-table and a few places above) or just their pie-in-the-sky rivals (Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United) is not clear.

The Scottish Sun quoted Lawwell as saying: “We agreed a deal with Manchester City and we had been talking to Craig for over a week. But at the end of the day, if you lose out to someone who wants to go home there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Lawwell also slammed the suggestion Celtic have not tried to sign so-called “big names”, insisting it was a case of the players not wanting to play in the Scottish league in its current state. Even without the “marquee” signings, Majstorovic became the club’s eighth signing of the transfer window yesterday and there are more to come.

Assuming Bellamy doesn’t sign, the talk of James McFadden being the second-choice option is a little worrying. The rumour is McFadden will cost £4million as although he only has a year left on his current contract, Birmingham have the option to extend it by a further 12 months.

Share this article