Aberdeen manager Jim Goodwin has confirmed his intention to sign Liam Scales in January, if the defender performs as he is expecting. The Irishman joined on-loan from Celtic until the end of the season but Goodwin is already discussing the prospect of making the move to Pittodrie a permanent one.
Speaking to Press & Journal, Goodwin stated that he would anticipate discussions with the Celtic hierarchy over a permanent deal for the 23-year-old.
“The size of club we are, we want to be signing players on permanent contracts.
“That conversation was had with Celtic initially. We wanted to know what the number was and could we make it happen.
“Celtic are not willing to sell Liam right at this moment in time.
“That is fair enough because he is their player and he is on a long-term contract.
“Certainly we will enter into those discussions again in January if Liam has the kind of success we expect him to have. Hopefully he is enjoying his time at Aberdeen and will want to sign on with us.”
Scales was signed from Shamrock Rovers last summer for just £500k and it was a deal that left many scratching their heads as it could only mean that he was coming in as defensive cover at centre-half. However, a deal was done to sign Cameron Carter-Vickers with it appearing that the Irishman would deputise to Greg Taylor on Celtic’s left side.
There is no downside to this deal for Celtic as the player gets minutes on the park in his preferred position, allowing him to stake a claim for a first-team return and if he doesn’t do enough, he is in the shop window for prospective buyers. He made 13 appearances for Celtic and appeared to impress in those cameos, albeit Ange clearly wasn’t sold on the player.
Scales will be playing as a centre-back for Aberdeen next season and fans will be curious to see whether he progresses and if he does, whether Celtic will even entertain the notion of selling the player.
