Why Birmingham City deal for Celtic star collapsed as Hoops pave way for Blues to sign ex-ace off Sunderland
How Celtic missed out on selling a star to Birmingham City has been shared - with an ex-player leaving Sunderland as a consequence.
The reasons why a Celtic star missed out on a Birmingham City transfer have been shared - after it sparked a club favourite’s exit from Sunderland.
All three clubs were caught up in a transfer triangle on deadline day. With Celtic unable to get a replacement in the door, amid the club being lamented from all angles for a slow approach to recruitment, it meant Yang could not finalise a deal to join Chris Davies’ side. The ex-Celtic coach and Blues gaffer already has ex-teammates Kyogo and Tomoki Iwata in his ranks.
That had them opting for Plan B, Patrick Roberts. The former Hoops winger who won seven trophies in Glasgow earlier in his career joined on a season-long loan from Sunderland after the Yang deal collapsed. Transfer insider Graeme Bailey has stated it was the Hoops’ inability to close the deal that forced Birmingham City to look towards Sunderland for winger reinforcement. Sebastian Tounekti was eventually announced by Celtic as reinforcement on the left flank after the window had shut north and south of the border.
Why Yang didn’t join Birmingham City from Celtic
He told EFL Analysis: “I believe that Birmingham pulled out of that one because they just weren’t willing to wait. Obviously Celtic did get Sebastian Tounekti in but that was very late. So, I think the option for Birmingham was to bring Roberts in, and they couldn’t afford to wait and then be left with no options, so I think they went with Roberts just because it was there to be done and they see him as being just as good.
“It was the player’s decision. I’m not sure how close Derby County were to a permanent deal because that’s very expensive. I’m not sure they would have still had the funds in place to do that because it would have been pretty big, and with his contract as well, but it was down to the player.
“Obviously, he saw Birmingham was a better option for him at this time, which again probably isn’t a huge surprise.”
Why Patrick Roberts made Birmingham City transfer move
Roberts was more than happy to benefit from the transfer collapse. He said to club media: “I’m a winner. And this is a place, and a club, that wants to strive to get to the top. And off the back of last season, where I did that (winning promotion), I can see there’s potential here to have a good season.
“It didn’t take much convincing. It’s a big club, and getting back to where Birmingham should be is an aim. Doing what the club did last season is no small feat. It’s a hard league, I’ve played in it myself, so to go and get the points record is something special. To join now is exciting, there’s a lot of momentum, and it’s a huge club.”
There are still major issues for Celtic on the flanks. Daizen Maeda has revealed he asked to leave the club this summer while Yang has also been left at the club after looking to move on. Jota is injured long-term while on the right hand side of the flanks, veteran James Forrest and Yang are the only natural options with Nicolas Kuhn departing earlier in the window to Como.