Michael Nicholson should leave Celtic for a career in politics if he actually pulls off the transfer feat to end all transfer feats this month.
That’s the view of Hugh Keevins who can’t believe the ‘crazy economics’ of Celtic selling Jota and Kieran Tierney for a combined £50m, only to get them back for a sliver of that. It had been a quiet January at Parkhead but those fearing a sleepy finish to the window have been woken up with a double shot of espresso over the last few days. The news broke after their win over Young Boys that Kyogo is on the verge of a £10m move to Rennes with Jota now set to go back in the opposite direction.
Talks with Tierney and Arsenal are also progressing well with both the Scotland star and Jota in line for returns to Parkhead this month. Any deal for Tierney would likely be a loan for the final six months of his contract before a free transfer in the summer, and while it was originally thought Jota’s return would also be on an initial six-month loan, it now appears they’re set to buy him outright for a fee in the region of £8m.
Were that to happen it would mean Celtic sold the duo for a combined £50m – Tierney for £25m in 2019 and Jota for a similar fee 18 months ago – only to get them back at a future date for £8m in total. That’s a £42m profit on two players only for them to end up back at Parkhead anyway.
And Keevins couldn’t believe that reality as he was blown away on Clyde 1 SSB. The Record Sport columnist said on the radio show: “This whole Kyogo and Jota business, the economics of the situation are just crazy. If Celtic parted company with Jota and Tierney for £50million, and they could both come back for something in the region of £8m or £9m. If that happens, Michael Nicholson should become the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Rachel Reeves should stand down.”
The news comes with Celtic also set to sign a new striker to replace Kyogo and compete with Adam Idah for the starting berth. Exactly who that will be is unclear at this stage but Mathias Kvistgaarden looks like one of the frontrunners and he recently spoke out on his future at Brondby. We understand they’ve set their stall out at £13.5m which means any move for the Denmark U21 star would likely take a club record fee, or close to it, from Celtic.
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