‘TIC TURN BACK CLOCK
Bhoys home in on David once more but Duffy deal no closer
CELTIC’S pursuit of Republic of Ireland defender Shane Duffy has been placed on pause as Neil Lennon closes in on a new deal for Motherwell’s David Turnbull.
Turnbull’s name came back on Neil Lennon’s list of targets this summer – 12 months after the youngster was left heartbroken by the collapse of a dream £3million transfer to the champions when doctors discovered a potentially career-ending knee injury during his medical.
But now the 21-year-old is back to full fitness, Lennon has returned to the table with Celtic lodging a fresh approach to Fir Park bosses last week.
But while Turnbull could be on the move before Motherwell’s trip to face Celtic on Sunday, there has been no progress in Celtic’s efforts to strike a deal for Duffy (inset) – despite a flurry of hints and speculation on social media.
Brighton are refusing to budge on their demands for a loan fee of between £2m and £3m for the 28-year-old and are also looking for Duffy’s wages to be paid in full.
But Celtic are reluctant to fork out those kind of sums for a player only to see him return to the south coast after a single season.
West Ham are also attempting to put a deal together but manager David Moyes admitted yesterday the Hammers are having to tighten their belts due to the impact of Covid-19.
Moyes said: “I’ve always been more interested in the players we’ve got than the ones who are at other clubs, so I think the improvements we made from the restart after lockdown were good.
“We’ve got some bright young players and some players who are improving, so if we can add to it, great, but as I’ve reiterated a few times, the owners spent a lot of money over a year ago, and I’m sure we don’t have that amount of money available to spend again.” West Ham received a boost after selling Albian Ajeti to Celtic in a £5m deal and added another £5m to their coffers with Jordan Hughill signing for Norwich.
The moderate signing approach comes only 12 months after they spent a combined £70m on Pablo Fornals and misfiring striker Sebastien Haller.
Celtic’s hopes of landing diehard fan Duffy looked to have received a boost on Monday when the player’s brother shared a Celtic crest to his Instagram page.
That followed the former Everton academy graduate telling close friend Sean Roddy he was “clueless” after he hinted a move to the London Stadium was the stopper’s preferred destination.