Christie snag set to delay Hayes move
with Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers, his former academy coach at Reading.
Rodgers remains in the market for a wide player, a midfielder and a central defender before the Champions League qualifiers begin in mid-July. He is a long-time admirer of Hayes, who joined the Dons from Inverness in 2012.
Hayes was due to fly out to Ireland last night to join up with the Republic squad, who face Uruguay in a friendly in Dublin tomorrow.
Celtic, meanwhile, have secured the registration of teenage sensation Karamoko Dembele.
The youngster made worldwide headlines when he appeared as a substitute for Celtic’s development team at the tender age of 13 last year.
Now 14, he went on to play for both Scotland Under-16s and England Under-15s, and has attracted covetous glances from Europe’s top clubs, including Barcelona.
However, affirming the youngster’s commitment to Celtic, his father, Losseni Dembele, claimed that his son dreams of playing firstteam football at Parkhead.
He told the Celtic website: ‘For me, it’s about my son’s development and I feel that there isn’t a better place than Celtic for him at the moment.
‘It would be brilliant to see him playing at Celtic Park in front of 60,000 fans, but I know this will take hard work and patience.’
Young Dembele said: ‘I’m delighted to have signed at such a wonderful club. This is the right place for me to fulfil my potential. My goal is to reach the first team.
‘It won’t be easy becoming a footballer at such a big club, but I will show hard work, commitment and the biggest one for me, responsibility.’
Celtic’s head of youth Chris McCart said: ‘There has been considerable publicity surrounding Karamoko but our focus will be solely on his needs as a young player.
‘We’ll give him the very best opportunity to flourish in football and all other aspects of life.’
A TUG-OF-WAR over Ryan Christie last night delayed the completion of Celtic’s £1million move for Aberdeen winger Jonny Hayes.
The Dons want to sign the 22-year-old midfielder as part of a player-plus-cash agreement.
However, the Scottish champions are unwilling to let former Inverness Caley Thistle player Christie leave on a permanent basis, and will only allow him to return on loan to Pittodrie.
He spent the second half of last season with Derek McInnes’ team after switching in January, scoring seven goals in 15 appearances before making his return to Parkhead.
Sportsmail revealed Celtic’s bid for 29-year-old Republic of Ireland international Hayes yesterday.
Despite the hold-up in the move, he is still expected to end up at Parkhead after Aberdeen reluctantly agreed to let the Dubliner go, albeit he remains under contract at Pittodrie until 2019.
English Championship sides Cardiff City and Birmingham City are also interested in his services, but look set to miss out after Hayes expressed a preference to work again