No more marquee signings, says Deila

RONNY DEILA says the days of Celtic luring big-name marquee loan stars to Parkhead are over. The Scottish champions managed to snare the likes of Roy Keane and Robbie Keane on crowd-pleasing short-term deals in the past — and tried to land Scotland midfielder Darren Fletcher before he joined West Brom. However, in response to rumours of a move for Everton’s out-of-favour former Celtic winger Aiden McGeady, the Norwegian said the wage gap between Scotland and England is now insurmountable unless big names are prepared to make substantial sacrifices. ‘There’s no chance of that

happening,’ admitted Deila. ‘We have tried before to get those types of players but they get three times the salary at other places. ‘It’s also more interesting for them to play in England than Scotland. ‘It’s tough and you never say never but it’s a different planet when you talk salaries. ‘It has to be players who want to come and play for Celtic — like Carlton Cole. ‘He went down a lot in salary. We would not be able to pay the salary that the likes of McGeady are on. ‘There’s no chance. The difference is so unbelievably big that’s there is no chance. The wage structure would be broken 10 times if we did it.’ Deila is keen to bring former Celtic players and experienced Scots back to the SPFL if the opportunity arises, but will only do loan deals if they are affordable and offer the chance of a permanent move. ‘Everything is possible, but if you go for a loan then you are in a difficult situation at the end of the season,’ said the Parkhead boss. ‘We had that with John Guidetti and Jason Denayer last season. ‘When they go and Virgil (van Dijk), too, then suddenly you need to bring in two new centre-halves. ‘When you get someone and then they leave in the summer, it becomes a tough situation afterwards. Sometimes you can do it. ‘If you feel you can build a relationship with the player during his loan, then maybe you can keep him longer. ‘Maybe with players like McGeady, who has been here before, when he reaches the end of his career he’ll want to come back again. That’s possible. ‘But I haven’t talked with him about that, although these are the types of names we’re talking about.’ Deila will not completely rule out loan deals after Aston Villa boss Remi Garde claimed the Scottish champions had been in touch over unsettled striker Libor Kozac, but Deila insisted: ‘We’d need to have the opportunity to buy him. That’s an important thing.’ Admitting he would love to do his transfer business early this month, past experience tells the Parkhead manager that is unlikely, saying: ‘I hope to do it but I don’t expect it. Clubs are always waiting and players, too. It’s about money and options.’