Liam Lawrence has pledged his future to Stoke after apparently getting fed up with waiting for Celtic to make a move.
The 29-year-old right-winger has been strongly linked with a move to Celtic since the start of the transfer window and admitted he was keen on a move. However, Lawrence has now decided to fight for a first-team place in the Premier League club instead.
Of course, football transfer windows are about media manipulation as much as anything and a cynic may argue Lawrence’s words are a final ‘come and get me’ plea to Celtic. Or they may be completely genuine, though in the modern age of spin that would be hard to fathom.
Lawrence told the Scottish Sun: “The idea of a move to Celtic was really appealing at the end of last season. It has gone on for so long now and they have bought a lot of players. Clearly, they’ve had plenty of opportunity to come and get me, but for whatever reason it hasn’t happened.
“Stoke have been brilliant with me, stating they were prepared to give me the chance of a move if the conditions were right. I really wanted the opportunity to play for Celtic. If they had come in for me I would’ve been happy to go.
“With things dragging on it has given me time to reconsider everything. I have had a brilliant pre-season with Stoke, I’ve really enjoyed it, and now I feel I’ve got to be fair with them. I feel the best thing for me now is to stay and try to play in the Premier League.”
Only time will tell whether Lawrence has genuinely closed the door on a move to Celtic during the current transfer window and perhaps Aiden McGeady’s move to Spartak Moscow, assuming it does happen, will speed things up a bit. The £9.5million rumoured transfer fee will certain come in handy.
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