Medical issue revealed in £3m Celtic transfer exit as new club declare star as 'huge' after beating big clubs
The Celtic transfer deal hit a hitch this summer but still got done.
Stoke City sporting director Jon Walters has revealed the hitch in Bosun Lawal’s medical after leaving Celtic.
The versatile star who can play in defence or midfield has left the Premiership champions for the Potters. He had featured in pre-season games under Brendan Rodgers but a decision has been made to move Lawal permanently in a deal claimed to be worth around £3m, after a loan at Fleetwood Town last season.
Speaking to Stoke Live, Walters has revealed that the medical for Lawal didn’t go totally to plan, but they were still committed to the deal for the long-term. He said: “Bosun (Lawal), who is going to be a huge player for the club and matches our ambition in terms of where we want to get to.
“I’ll highlight the signing of Bosun, who we were getting from Celtic. It was a tough deal to get done and we jumped ahead of a lot of big teams to get his signature, which we’re delighted about, but the medical highlighted something that we didn’t know about and Celtic didn’t know about.
“Other teams might pull away from a deal because they want a player to be immediately available and we were looking a bit short of numbers in certain positions, but this was a long-term signing for the club of someone who matches our ambitions. Why would we be put off by a short-term issue which won’t take long to resolve? It doesn’t change him as a player.
“Our ambitions as a football club are to be right at the top. His ambitions as a player are the same too. You take that into account, it’s a long-term decision rather than be put off by getting just another body in.
“You want to create pathways and there are young players coming through and allow players who have joined the squad in the last couple of years to develop and coach players to get them better. That’s part of the club rather than saying we need a quick fix just to get a body in. We’re trying to build something, build a cohesion within a squad and togetherness in a group. It takes time.
“It helps when you’ve got a group of players in the club who know the staff, have that desire and hunger to get out of this league and push on into the Premier League.”